The Export Credit and Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) saw a 60 per cent rise in the insurance claims last fiscal as exporters hit by rising payment defaults in the US and Europe rushed for cover.

''Insurance claims by exporters have increased by about 60 per cent during 2008-09,'' ECGC general manager V Viswanathan said, adding countries like the US, UK, Germany have contributed significantly to the claims.

ECGC cleared claims worth Rs180 crore up to 12 March 2009 under the export credit guarantee policy against claims worth Rs119 crore in the previous financial year (April 2007-March 2008), he said.

Claims relating to shipments to the US alone have gone up nearly three times to Rs101 crore compared with Rs 35 crore in the corresponding period last year, he pointed out.

The textile sector, the worst hit by recession, accounted for 50 per cent of the total number of claims on ECGC. The total liability of ECGC has increased to Rs450 crore in 2008-09 from Rs420 crore in the previous fiscal.

The number of exporters who sought bank finance has increased 50 per cent since last year to 30,968 as of March 2009 from 20,568 in March 2008.

Insurance claims increased by Rs30 crore even as the number of policies  increased by 838 to 13,371 last year.

Disclosing this at a PHD conference, Vishwanathan said, about 85 per cent of these claims were made by Medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs).

Export credit policy covers risk arising from commercial environment. Exporters buy risk covers to safeguard their payments against the default by buyers.

ECGC, Viswanathan said, may consider insurance cover exporters against political risk. He also said that the areas like factoring services and direct sales from India would also be looked into greater details by ECGC.

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation provides credit risk cover to exporters against risks of non-payment by overseas buyers with respect to exports made.