Cattle Insurance: Types, Scope, Functions, Eligibility, Documents Required & Advantages for Rural Farmers

1. Cattle Insurance: Types, Scope, Functions, Eligibility, Documents Required & Advantages for Rural Farmers Cattle are considered one among the foremost valued possessions of the agricultural community in India. Marginal, small and medium farmers earn considerable portion of their income from cattle rearing and allied activities like selling of Milk. Since the livelihood of farmers depend such a lot on them, it becomes important to insure the cattle for comprehensive coverage against cattle diseases or any unforeseen events like untimely death of cattle. Cattle insurance is another endeavour of the govt of India to guard the agro-based economy of the country. What is Cattle Insurance? Cattle insurance protects Indian rural farmer from financial loss incurred due to untimely the death or disability of their cattle. The value of cattle is high and their loss can force farmers to fall into a debt cycle as they will not be able to sell milk or use their cattle to work on farmlands. With cattle insurance, farmers will get total protection against the cattle loss. The agencies insures the cattle of rural farmer against a yearly or quarterly policy premium as pre-decided by agencies under different policies which farmer has to pay. Once the farmer pays first premium his cattle is covered under insurance and risk of untimely death or permanent disability of cattle is transferred to insurance providing agency. Types of Cattle Insurance There are two sorts of risks which are insured generally by major Insurance companies: 1. Death of cattle: It covers loss of life if there is any accident or injury and disease occurred due to any infection 2. Permanent Disability cover: It covers the danger of irreversible and complete disability What Cattle Insurance Covers? Besides death or disability caused by fire, road accidents, drowning, electrocution, snake bites or poisoning, cattle insurance offers coverage for other issues also. They include: Death due to natural calamities like famine and floods. Death due to disease, infection or calving during surgical procedure. Permanent disability, for milch cows this refers to incapacity to conceive and yield milk. For bulls, this refers to incapacity to breed How Cattle Insurance Functions? Cattle insurance is a crucial aspect for livestock management in country. Below steps mention how an insurance company works before insuring the farmers animal. I) First step is to spot the cattle and determine the worth of the cattle before finalising the sum assured. This assessment is jointly administered by the beneficiary and an authorised veterinary doctor ii) Beneficiary must pay the premium amount on monthly or yearly basis, consistent with the policy iii) In case of death or disability of the cattle, the beneficiary immediately informs the insurance agency about the incident iv) All the specified documents that was mentioned in the policy form has be submitted to the insurance firm v) Insurance firm representative will validate all the documents and settle the claim Eligibility Criteria:

2. Cattle Insurance: Types, Scope, Functions, Eligibility, Documents Required & Advantages for Rural Farmers Cattle policy covers people that have: i) Cows, bullocks or buffaloes of either sex ii) Cross-breed and exotic cattle owned by private owners, military dairy farms, co- operative dairies and company dairies iii) Both schemed and non-schemed animals fall into this policy Schemed animals. Documents Required for Claim Process: Following are the documents which should be submitted to the agency for Claiming the amount: i) Proposal form ii) Medical certificate from veterinary doctor iii) Minimum 4 photographs of the insured animal iv) Duly filled in form v) Receipt of payment while purchasing the animal vi) Identification tag of the insured cattle Claim Process Steps followed by Agencies are to process cattle insurance claims: i) The owner should immediately intimate the insurer about the death/injury on the 24*7 toll free customer care number of the provider ii) Get the death certificate or the certificate of disability from a veterinary doctor iii) The beneficiary should also submit the duly filled claim form along with the death/disability certificate iv) An authorised member from the insurance firm will visit the location and verify the submitted details v) If the claim is found to be genuine, the amount is sanctioned and is paid to the beneficiary, else it's rejected Exclusions: Though the cattle insurance aims to help Indian Farmers who have cattle, the claim is non-payable under the subsequent circumstances. A number of these cases of exclusions are i)theft or illegal sale ii) Shipment via airways or sea iii) Terrorism, war, radioactivity and nuclear explosions iv) Neglect, over-loading and treatment under unskilled doctors v) Using for other purpose than what has been mentioned within the claim proposal vi) Not treating when sick or not taking any initiative treat the cattle.

3. Cattle Insurance: Types, Scope, Functions, Eligibility, Documents Required & Advantages for Rural Farmers viii) Slaughtering without permission from the veterinary or government official Time Taken to Settle Claims According to IRDA regulation, a cattle insurance must be settled by the insurer within 30 days of claim submission. If further investigation is required, the bank can take maximum six months to settle the claim. Companies offering Cattle Insurance in India Some of the leading companies offering Insurance plan in India are:  HDFC Ergo  Reliance General  ICICI Lombard  TATA AIG  Oriental Insurance  SBI General Important Aspects: Also referred to as livestock insurance, under this policy all cattle owners are eligible. However, before buying an insurance, following things should be kept in mind: i) Cattle must be properly vaccinated and fed with nutritious food. If intentional carelessness is found because of which death or disability has occurred, the claim might get rejected ii) To process the claim approval, the bank must be intimated immediately after the mishap iii) Authorised veterinary doctor should be engaged to treat the cattle; so that claim is not rejected. Advantages of taking Cattle Insurance: Cattle insurance intends to protect maximum number of farmers in rural India against any untimely death of cattle or diseases. The policy provides coverage against the risks of death and permanent disability due to  Famines  Accidents  Earthquakes  Riots or strikes  Surgical operations  Fire, explosion, implosion and lightning In Conclusion, a rural farmer whose livelihood is dependent of Income from Cattle should consider taking Insurance for cattle as this will protect the farmer against unforeseen future losses due to untimely death or permanent disability of cattle. References: https://dahd.gov.in/ Insurance Law - Karnataka State Law University (KSLU), Hubballi