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Three life insurers’ claims exceed total assets
IDRA moves to sell assets of troubled insurers to settle policyholders’ outstanding claims
The financial condition of some life insurers has deteriorated to the point that even selling all their assets would not be enough to settle outstanding claims owed to policyholders.
An analysis of Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) data for the January-March quarter of 2026 shows that Far East Islami Life Insurance, Padma Islami Life Insurance and Sunflower Life Insurance have unsettled claims exceeding their total assets.
IDRA, led by Chairman Mir Nadia Nivin, has recently moved to sell assets of life insurers that have failed to pay policyholders and use the proceeds to settle outstanding claims.
Speaking to the Daily Sun on Tuesday, Nivin said the regulator was giving high priority to clearing unpaid claims and did not expect that any company would need to sell all its assets.
“When we are able to pay 60% of a company’s claims by selling its assets, we will increase financial monitoring of that company. Besides, when a company that has so far been unable to pay customers starts making payments, its reputation will gradually improve,” she said.
Nivin said settling claims was essential to restoring discipline in the insurance sector.
“Our claim disposal rate is now 57%. It is natural that an industry with a 57% disposal rate will have a large amount of outstanding claims. According to IDRA, around Tk7,000 crore is currently outstanding in the sector. We are working to return that money to customers,” she said.
Insurance sector analyst S M Ziaul Haque said IDRA’s initiative could help restore customers’ confidence in the sector, as many policyholders of troubled insurers remain uncertain about recovering their money.
He said that where claims exceed a company’s assets, authorities should also examine whether the insurer has investments outside the assets currently being considered.
Selling assets alone would not be enough, he said. Regulators would also need to assess whether the companies could resume viable operations and regain customers’ confidence after paying claims. Otherwise, asset sales could ultimately leave a company unable to continue operating.
Far East Islami Life Insurance has total assets worth Tk3,150 crore against unsettled claims of Tk3,310 crore.
Abdur Rahim Bhuiyan, acting chief executive officer of Far East Islami Life Insurance, said the company had already sold Treasury bonds to pay policyholders following IDRA’s advice. It has also issued notices for the sale of six more assets in Dhaka and elsewhere.
“We hope it will be possible to restore customers’ confidence by settling their claims,” he said.
The situation at Sunflower Life Insurance Company Limited is particularly concerning, with unsettled claims vastly exceeding its assets. According to IDRA data, the company has assets worth just Tk6.07 crore against unsettled claims of Tk208 crore.Padma Islami Life Insurance Company has unsettled claims of Tk261 crore against total assets of Tk238 crore. The company settled claims worth Tk3.63 crore during the first quarter, according to IDRA.
Progressive Life Insurance has assets worth Tk253.79 crore against unsettled claims of Tk159.23 crore, meaning outstanding claims are equivalent to 62.74% of its total assets.
Baira Life Insurance Company Limited, meanwhile, has assets worth Tk80.52 crore and unsettled claims of Tk80.04 crore.
Other insurers with significant amounts of unsettled claims include Jiban Bima Corporation, MetLife Bangladesh and Delta Life Insurance Company.
Jiban Bima Corporation has assets worth Tk3,476.88 crore and unsettled claims of Tk69.92 crore, while MetLife Bangladesh has assets worth Tk20,008.05 crore against unsettled claims of Tk61 crore. Delta Life has assets worth Tk4,999 crore and unsettled claims of Tk56.39 crore.
Their unsettled claims represent 2.01%, 0.30% and 1.13% of total assets, respectively.
In the non-life insurance sector, Bangladesh General Insurance Corporation has the highest amount of unsettled claims, at Tk1,997.10 crore, against total assets of Tk8,116.93 crore.
Green Delta Insurance Company Limited has unsettled claims of Tk314.80 crore against total assets worth Tk1,588 crore.
According to IDRA data for the first quarter of 2026, the country’s 36 life insurers have combined assets worth Tk51,088 crore against total unsettled claims of Tk4,410 crore.
The 46 non-life insurers, meanwhile, have combined assets worth Tk20,799 crore against unsettled claims of Tk3,368 crore.