"The claim settlement ratio of LIC appeared to be better than that of the private life insurers", said Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) in its annual report 2011-12.

While LIC is the only life insurance company, there are about two dozen companies in the private sector which provide life cover.

According to the report, LIC has settled 97.42 per cent cases relating to death claims during 2011-12 compared to 89.34 per cent by private sector companies. The industry average worked out to be 96.26 per cent.

"Settlement ratio of LIC increased to 97.42 per cent during the year 2011-12 when compared to 97.03 per cent during the previous year," it said, adding that private insurers repudiated higher number of claims as compared to LIC.

On the positive side, settlement ratio of private insurers improved during the year to 89.34 per cent from 86.04 per cent in the previous year.

As far as industry is concerned, the settlement ratio increased marginally to 96.26 per cent in 2011-12 from 95.58 per cent a year ago.