Bangladesh’s insurance regulator has decided to facilitate the payment of nearly Tk 21 crore in outstanding claims to policyholders of five more life insurance companies, as part of an ongoing effort to address long-standing unpaid claims and rebuild confidence in the sector.
The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) is expected to oversee the next phase of claim settlements, with payments scheduled for 5 October, according to people familiar with the matter.
Among the companies, Homeland Life Insurance is set to pay Tk 4.82 crore in insurance claims, while Progressive Life Insurance will settle claims worth Tk 6.78 crore. Padma Islami Life Insurance has decided to pay Tk 8.82 crore.
The amounts to be paid by Sunflower Life Insurance and Sunlife Insurance have not yet been finalised. A meeting between the two companies and IDRA was scheduled for Sunday to determine the sums involved.
The latest move follows two rounds of claim payments already facilitated through IDRA. Across those two rounds, 8,417 policyholders received a combined Tk 37.54 crore in outstanding insurance claims.
In the first round, held on 3 September, seven life insurance companies paid Tk 14.51 crore to 2,549 customers. The payments covered claims from several companies, including Bayra Life Insurance, Fareast Islami Life Insurance, Golden Life Insurance, Homeland Life Insurance, Padma Islami Life Insurance, Progressive Life Insurance and Sunflower Life Insurance.
Bayra Life paid Tk 4.51 lakh to eight customers, while Fareast Islami Life settled Tk 5.42 crore among 528 policyholders. Golden Life paid Tk 2.51 lakh to four customers.
Homeland Life paid Tk 10.66 lakh to 15 policyholders, while Padma Islami Life settled Tk 1.94 crore among 624 customers. Progressive Life paid Tk 6.90 crore to 1,350 policyholders, and Sunflower Life paid Tk 5.21 lakh to 20 customers.
The second round followed on 14 September, when 5,868 policyholders received Tk 23.03 crore. Padma Islami Life paid Tk 12 crore to 3,600 customers, while Homeland Life settled Tk 4.98 crore among 1,145 policyholders.
Fareast Islami Life paid Tk 5 crore to 580 customers during the same round. Sunflower Life settled Tk 55.30 lakh among 300 policyholders, while Sunlife Insurance paid Tk 50.18 lakh to 243 customers.
The continued intervention comes against the backdrop of a wider problem involving unpaid insurance claims. Delays in settling legitimate claims can affect policyholders directly, particularly when insurance benefits are expected to provide financial support after the maturity of a policy or following an insured event.
Dr Shahidul Islam Zahed, chairman of the Department of Banking and Insurance at the University of Dhaka, welcomed the initiative but said a longer-term strategy would be needed to address the wider problem.
According to him, customers are owed more than Tk 7,000 crore in insurance claims. He said the outstanding amount could not be settled simply by selling the assets of the companies concerned. IDRA therefore needs to make its short-, medium- and long-term plans clear, he said.
He also raised questions about claims involving institutional investors. While the current initiative is focused on individual policyholders, he said it should also be clarified what steps the regulator intends to take regarding claims held by institutional investors.
IDRA Chairman Mir Nadia Nivin said ensuring the timely payment of legitimate claims to policyholders is one of the authority’s key priorities. She said greater speed and transparency in claim settlement were necessary to restore public confidence in the insurance industry.
The regulator’s latest initiative is therefore part of a broader effort to release funds that have remained unpaid for extended periods. The successive rounds of payments have brought relief to thousands of policyholders, while also placing greater attention on the financial and operational problems faced by some insurers.
The next payment round, scheduled for 5 October, will add to the amount already settled through IDRA’s intervention. However, with outstanding claims reportedly running into thousands of crores, the longer-term challenge remains how the regulator and the affected insurers can establish a sustainable mechanism for clearing the backlog while protecting policyholders’ interests.