Nepal insurers face record claims over Gen-Z protest damages

The recent Gen-Z protests in Nepal have sparked the largest insurance claims from a single incident in the country’s history, with non-life insurers reporting nearly NPR 21 billion in damages so far.

According to figures released on Thursday by the Nepal Insurance Authority, companies had received 1,984 claims totaling NPR 20.7 billion by 16 September — surpassing the payout demands that followed both the 2015 earthquake (NPR 16.5 billion) and the COVID-19 insurance scheme launched in 2020 (over NPR 16 billion). With assessments of property damage still ongoing, the final tally is expected to rise even further.

The Oriental Insurance Company Limited, a branch of India’s Oriental Insurance, tops the list, reporting claims worth NPR 5.14 billion from just 40 cases — much of it linked to the heavy destruction suffered by Hotel Hilton Kathmandu.

Other major insurers handling significant claims include Siddhartha Premier Insurance, Shikhar Insurance, IGI Prudential Insurance, and Sagarmatha Lumbini Insurance.

The scale of devastation has been immense. Some of Nepal’s largest enterprises have reported combined losses exceeding NPR 60 billion, according to the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), which is currently cataloguing the private sector’s damages.

Among the hardest-hit properties were the Hilton Kathmandu, several outlets of retail giant Bhat-Bhateni Supermarket, the headquarters of telecom provider Ncell, and facilities belonging to the Chaudhary Group, owned by billionaire Binod Chaudhary.

The protests, marked by arson and large-scale destruction, have thus left behind not only charred buildings but also a financial crisis of unprecedented proportions for Nepal’s insurance sector.

With IANS inputs