Cattle Insurance

Need for insurance:

Cattle are delicate animals. They suffer from many diseases, accidents, etc. If the death occurs to animals due to these causes, there is tremendous loss to the owner of the animal or dairyman. But if there is insurance of the animal the owner gets some compensation and his loss is shared by the insurance company.

What is insurance ?

It is a service offered by a insurance company to protect owners of animals (cow, buffalo or bullocks) from any natural hazards (diseases, accidents, poisoning,etc.) and provide compensation to the owners of the animal when loss occurs in lieu of small regular payments to the company called premium. Through insurance, big losses befalling on few cattle owners are shared by the insurance company and the owner is protected.

Condition of animal:

The animal to be insured should have good health and free from any disease or illness. The veterinary doctor has to examine the animal thoroughly and certify accordingly. This certificate has to be attached to the insurance proposal. Animal should be vaccinated to protect from occurrence of any disease and care should be taken to feed properly with balanced diet to maintain good health. There should be no hunger and food deficiency. Old animals are not insured. Animals which have good health and free from sickness have higher price and hence can be insured at higher value. Consequently, they can earn higher compensation to the owner.

Documents Needed:

Following papers are to be submitted with insurance proposal.

1. Insurance proposal containing name of animal owner, his address branding number of animal, identification mark, breed, sex, age, colour, horns, height, etc.
2. Certificate by veterinary doctor in the prescribed form.
3. Receipt of payment made while purchasing the animal.
4. Certified value of animal considering its age, sex, health, etc. at the time of insurance.
5. Photo copy of the animal.

This proposal is to be made with the help of veterinary doctor.

Insurance amount:

Insurance amount depends upon type of animal and breed such as cow, buffalo, local breed, pure breed or crossbred and also on age, sex and health of animal. Pure breeds and crossbreds have higher values than the local breeds. Young or adult animals have higher values than the old ones, healthy animals have higher values than the weak animals. Consequently, animals having higher prices can be insured for larger amounts.

Insurance premium:

Insurance premiums are charged in two ways:

1. at fixed amount of animals are supplied under Government Schemes.
2. 5% of value of animal under individual scheme.

Procedure for compensation:

If there is death of insured animal, the insurance company is to be informed immediately. The post mortem report from veterinary doctor should be attached to the report. If the animal is purchased from bank loan, the concerned bank should also be informed accordingly. The ear to which label is tied should be submitted to the insurance company. One photograph of the animal should also be submitted. If the animal has died of accident, the police report need to be attached. The value of the animal at the time of death is considered for making claim.

Payment of compensation:

If the animal is purchased through bank loan, compensation of dead animal is paid through the bank. In other cases, compensation is paid by cheque to the owner of the animal directly.

Compensation not paid for following reasons:-

1. Post mortem report from veterinary doctor not attached.
2. Difference observed in identification marks.
3. Proper veterinary aid not given while the animal was sick.
4. Insurance company not informed immediately after the death of animal.
5. Period of insurance policy is already over before the death of animal.

Difficulties in insuring animals:

1. Agents are reluctant to go in villages to contact individual animal owner.
2. Correct and reliable information of animals to be insured not given. There are some social elements interfering in the work of cattle insurance.
3. Insuring only few animals out of total number is not desirable.
4. While making claims of compensation, all needed documents are not supplied by the animal owners and hence disbursement of claims is delayed.

Service
(Insurance)