Disclaimer :  This document is purely for the purpose of generating awareness. The figures mentioned in the dossier are of an indicative nature & the company will not be held liable to prove the accuracy & the veracity of these incidences.

1) Up Against 37 Farmers !!!

-> Quantum Of Claim : INR 4.75 Crores

-> Status : Settled

-> Insured : Fertilizers/Pesticides/Chemical manufacturer

-> Incident :  Pesticides/Fertilizers supplied by the insured caused the discoloration & subsequent burning of the crops (Coriander, Cumin, Sorghum & Mustard). The farmers observed that the leaves of the plant were turning yellow from green & subsequently burning. Extent of the Crop damage was such that there was no chance of recovery. 415 Acres of crops were damaged, belonging to 37 different farmers. Loss of fertility of the Soil was also caused due to the chemical residues left beneath the upper layer of the Soil.

-> Final Settlement : INR 1.69 Crores

2) A 1 Million limit might not be enough!!!

-> Quantum of Claim (Initial) : INR 15.3 Crores

-> Status : Open

-> Insured : Starch/chemical Manufacturer

-> Incident: The Company supplies starches & Chemicals to a Pharmaceutical manufacturer. One batch had an elevated level of Yeast/Mold leading to a contamination in the Finished Product. The products were well-tested before the dispatch by the quality control mechanism. A retrospective test was conducted though & it was found out that an external door on the dust collection system was malfunctioning causing intermittent air flow issues and subsequent air contact & contamination.

-> Limit of Liability of the Policy : Only INR 5 Crores AOA:AOY

-> Latest Claim Estimate : INR 6.04 Crores

3) Playing with Fire (Literally) !

-> Quantum of Claim(Initial estimate) : USD 1.4 MN

-> Status : Open

-> Insured : Garment Manufacturer

Incident : A little girl was standing too close to the fireplace, her dress caught fire & she suffered severe burn injuries. The insured was a supplier to a huge retail chain. According to the insured, all possible precautions & Quality checks were taken care of. But when kids & infants are involved, even the slightest hint of negligence detected can tilt the tables. In this case, the inflammability of the fabric was called into question. Disclaimer : Keep away from fire, this marginally strengthens the case of the insured.

-> Latest Claim estimate: USD 0.61 MN

A large part of such claims is centered on the “Mental anguish suffered by the third party & the potential for further mental anguish”. It is hard to quantify this damage and hence there are long drawn out negotiations related to this..

4) Crops Damage – a Million dollar claim!

-> Quantum of Claim: USD 1,018,190

-> Status: Open

-> Insured: Herbicide/pesticide manufacturer

-> Incident: The insured company supplied a chemical called Devrinol – a chemical used to inhibit the growth & augmentation of weed in crops. Farmers complained that the chemical displayed a high level of phyto-toxicity and this damaged their rice crops. 40 farmers collectively sued the manufacturing company.

-> Latest status : This is a very recent claim and negotiations are going on between the claimants legal team & TATA-AIG. An interesting footnote to this claim is that the chemical supplied by the company to the farmers was still under testing and was not tested under all types of soil conditions.

5) Mislabelling claim- (Chemical)

-> Quantum of Claim: SGD150,000/-.

-> Status: Close

-> Insured: Manufacturer of Fine Chemicals

-> Incident:

•  The Insured is in the business of manufacturing fine chemicals used in preparation of Fragrances and Flavors. The Insured had dispatched 2 containers of 160 Drums to the distributor in Singapore containing two chemicals namely Amyl Salicylate and Verdyl Propionate.
• The distributor, had delivered the material to the customer who used the chemicals to produce perfumes.
• The Claimant had used the insured’s product and found out that the chemical composition of the perfume was altered. Their were higher levels of Amyl Salicylate in two of their perfumes. They found that one drum which had the label of Verdyl Propionate actually had contents of Amyl Salicylate in the drum. Subseqently the Claimant found that in one of their other perfume higher levels of Verdyl Propionate were found. They concluded that this was a case of mislabelling of the chemicals which was limited to only these 2 particular drums. This incident resulted in rejection of claimant’s final product made from one drum. The product from the other drum was blended and was found ok & approved.

The claimant has made a claim against the Insured for the following :

• Cost of Material made from one drum : SGD 137,000
• Other expenses- such as quality check, administrative expenses : SGD 13,000

The total claim SGD 150,000.