Victims of current flooding do not qualify for Govt fund
People in the 10 provinces currently being hit by flooding will not be compensated by the National Catastrophe Insurance Fund as there has been no declaration of a natural disaster and the total loss has not reached Bt5 billion, the Insurance Commission s
“We cannot pay compensation to flood-hit people there as this case does not qualify,” secretary-general Pravej Ongartsittigul said.
Under the fund’s conditions, total compensation per event has to be higher than Bt5 billion and it has to have taken place within 60 days.
The damage from the recent flood covered 9,700 households insured for Bt812 million, of which Bt603 million comes under the fund. The number of written catastrophe-insurance policies has reached 150,000 with Bt18 billion of coverage, and is forecast to hit Bt86 billion by year-end.
More individuals and businesses are seeking financial protection against natural disasters, so many policies are being issued.
From March 28 to September 11, 46 insurance companies issued 165,333 disaster policies for combined coverage of Bt14 billion with Bt104 million in premiums charged.
Of the total, 154,306 policies worth Bt9.2 billion were issued to homeowners.
SMEs took out 10,326 policies worth Bt1.99 billion, while operators of industrial plants bought 701 policies worth Bt3.2 billion.
The regulator is working closely with the insurance industry to relax reinsurance rules in order to reduce premiums and increase competition in the industry.
Disaster-insurance policies are expected to continue increasing, thanks to annual renewals, Pravej said.
Disaster insurance covers floods, earthquakes and storms.
Last year’s severe floods caused US$12 billion (Bt370 billion) of damage, but fewer than half of the affected properties were insured, he said.
