Storm leads to record for insurance claims

Zhang Guocheng, a 30-year old white-collar worker living in Beijing's Fangshan district, kept himself busy dealing with his waterlogged Chevrolet Aveo on Sunday, a day after a giant rainstorm had pounded the capital city.

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He started calling his insurance company in the early morning, only to hear nothing on the line for hours but a busy signal. Eventually, after lunchtime, one of his calls was transferred to the company's Shandong office, which fewer people were trying to reach.

An operator there helped him arrange to have a trailer take his car to a nearby maintenance shop. But the assistance wasn't to come for three days, not until other cars on a waiting list had been picked up, said Zhang, who planned to ask for leave from work on Wednesday so he could have his car repaired.

Despite his misfortune, Zhang was lucky compared with his neighbors. His car was damaged in a parking lot outside the apartment building he lives in.

His neighbors, though, had about 300 of their cars parked in an underground garage, where they remained under water until Monday morning.

"Workers at the repair shop told me that, because I didn't try to start my engine after the rain had stopped, my car, which was less than half submerged in water, only need some cleaning in its engine and a change of parts," Zhang said. "But it'll still take half a month to repair it. Fortunately, the engine was not damaged and the insurance company will pay for all of the costs."

Zhang was one of nearly 20,000 people whose vehicles were damaged in the 20-hour downpour that struck Beijing on Saturday, leaving 37 dead.

By 5 pm on Sunday, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission Beijing Bureau said insurance companies in Beijing had received 19,547 claims on vehicles that had been damaged by the floodwaters. They estimated the disaster would cause them to pay out about 98.82 million yuan ($15.69 million) in compensation.

The bureau said it is requiring insurance companies to move faster to assess the flood damage and to settle claims.

The insurance company PICC Property and Casualty Co Ltd's Beijing branch said it has received more than 5,241 automobile insurance claims stemming from Saturday's storm. Those, it estimates, will cause it to pay out 5.24 million yuan in compensation.

By noon on Sunday, Ping An Insurance Group Co Ltd, another supplier of automobile insurance, had received requests to provide assistance in retrieving 4,682 vehicles that were damaged in the flooding and China Pacific Insurance Group had helped to retrieve 1,527 of the 2,358 vehicles on which it had received claims stemming from the disaster.

They all said the rainstorm led to a record being set on Sunday for the number of automobile insurance claims filed on a single day.

The harm also spread to insurance companies' stocks.

The price of New China Life Insurance Co's shares dropped 2.42 percent to 33.05 yuan per share on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday and that of China Life Insurance Co Ltd shares declined by 1.81 percent to 19.52 yuan apiece.

An officer at PICC Property and Casualty, who declined to be named, had advice for car owners who find their vehicles have been damaged by water. Upon making such a discovery, he said, they should call their insurance company immediately and leave their vehicle in the water or have it pulled out. What they should not do is try to drive it, he said.

"Turning the ignition switch of a waterlogged vehicle will damage the engine, and we aren't responsible for paying to repair such damage," said Wang. "When we settle claims on waterlogged vehicles, we only pay to clean the engine, as well as change parts, electronic components and interior components."

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