Coronavirus Insurance Programme formally launched

KATHMANDU, AUGUST 5

The Insurance Board today formally implemented the Coronavirus Insurance Programme announced by the government in the budget of ongoing fiscal year.

The board has stated that government employees will get 100 per cent free subsidy and general public will get 50 per cent subsidy when taking out an insurance policy of Rs 100,000 against the new coronavirus.

Interview with Chiranjibi Chapagain, Chairman Insurance Board Nepal (Beema Samiti) Kupandole Lalitpur. Photo: Balkrishna Thapa/THT

Addressing a press meet, Chiranjibi Chapagain, chairperson of the board, said the provision of free insurance for government employees had been implemented along with 50 per cent subsidy for citizens insuring their families.

“The 50 per cent subsidy can be availed only if all the family members are insured collectively,” he further clarified.

Chapagain said the term of the insurance policy would be valid till mid-July 2021.

As per the board, the policy buyer must be a Nepali citizen.

Furthermore, if the policy buyer has returned to Nepal from India or a third country, he or she should have stayed in mandatory quarantine for 15 days and been with their family for another 15 days. This means they can seek the coverage only 30 days after returning.

For the coronavirus insurance, the family members have to submit self-declaration forms and other documents certified by the concerned local level that they have not contracted the virus. In order to receive the grant, all the procedures and criteria related to the risk assessment system as prescribed in the Coronavirus Insurance Standards, 2020, must be completed.

Two types of insurance have been established under the insurance policy — of Rs 100,000 and Rs 50,000. A premium of Rs 1,000 per person has been fixed for insurance policies of Rs 100,000 and Rs 500 per person for insurance policies of Rs 50,000.

If all the members of the family are insured collectively, the insurance premium will be Rs 600 per person for an insurance policy of Rs 100,000 and Rs 300 per person for an insurance policy of Rs 50,000.

The government will provide a subsidy of Rs 300 per person for family insurance of Rs 100,000 and Rs 150 per person for such insurance of Rs 50,000.

The Insurance Board has stated that if an insured person tests positive for the virus in PCR tests conducted in one of the labs accredited by the Ministry of Health and Population, the claimant will receive the insured amount within seven days of making the claim.

In case of death of the insured without payment of the claim, provision has been made to pay the amount to the next of kin or the mentioned nominee.

The board has also clarified that the premium will not be available in the form of subsidy if the insurer is found to have violated the mentioned procedures and criteria while taking out group insurance.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on August 6, 2020, of The Himalayan Times.

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