CHENNAI: Soon, you can approach any satellite office of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) for matters relating to claims settlement or survival benefit payout.

The LIC plans to use Wide Area Network technology to facilitate the scanning of documents and storing the images on a central server — the same mode that is currently enabling customers to remit the premium at the nearest branch office. This means that customers will be able to access a copy of the policy document and go ahead with a transaction at any satellite office. At present, the accessibility of policy documents only at the parent office posed a drawback to broaden the spectrum of services at a satellite utility.

LIC's Zonal Manager B. Mathivannan told a press conference, convened to announce the launch of a new scheme `Jeevan Amrit', that the project was being undertaken as part of the Enterprise Data Management System that uses technology for a range of solutions.

The plan is designed for people wishing to have long-term insurance cover with a short-duration premium commitment, said V. Vijayaraghavan, LIC's regional manager (Actuarial).

The premium payment term is limited to three, four or five year cycles, while the policy term is from 10 to 30 years. The plan, open to those in the 12-60 age group, is said to be best suited for non-resident Indians, young software professionals and persons in the entertainment industry.

A key feature aspect is the simple reversionary bonus format where the payout continues even after the policies are paid-up.

The scanning of documents will commence in offices of Chennai divisions I and II, Kottayam and Madurai on June 1 and is expected to be completed in a year. The LIC expects to complete coverage of the remaining eight divisions in three years.

For the life insurance behemoth, this would also mean taking forward the mission of evolving into a world class customer-oriented organisation, as reaffirmed at the recent Hyderabad meet of Senior Divisional Managers.

A major activity undertaken during the LIC's golden jubilee year was the setting up of a corpus of funds for corporate social responsibility initiatives. The Golden Jubilee Foundation was now vested with a corpus of Rs.50 crore and it is proposed to add Rs.10 crore each year over the next five years, to raise Rs.100 crore, said Mr. Mathivannan.

The highlights of LIC's performance for 2006-07 include completion of 3,82,08,575 policies for a cumulative premium value of Rs.39,541.57 crore. The South Zone completed 47,33,715 policies for a premium worth Rs.5,862.40 crore.

Gummidipoondi branch (Chennai Division II) is all India topper in terms of achievement to budget for issuance of policies, exceeding target by 193 per cent, while the Tiruvannamalai branch under Vellore division tops the zone in number of policies sold (43,159) and non-single premium (Rs.86 crore).

The south zone plans to open 80 new centres this year.

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