About 90 percent of vehicles damaged by falling trees or flying debris during Typhoon Soudelor will not be covered by iansurance, as less than 10 percent of cars in Taiwan are insured against weather damage, according to a local media report.
Non-Life Insurance Association director Tai Ying-hsiang (戴英祥) was quoted by the Chinese-language China Times as saying that the three major types of car insurance in the nation do not cover damage caused by natural disasters, and only those whose insurance covers weather damage can make a claim for storm damage.
Among the storms that have ravaged the nation, Typhoon Nari in 2001 was the most expensive for the insurance sector, which paid out more than NT$10 billion (US$314.86 million) in weather damage claims, builder’s risk insurance claims and business insurance claims, Tai said.
The percentage of car owners with typhoon insurance has been low, as there have been few major typhoons in recent years. Coverage for storm damage is a policy that must be added to a general vehicle insurance scheme, while the premium for typhoon insurance is usually included in that of the vehicle insurance, he said.
“However, more car owners might be considering typhoon insurance after Typhoon Soudelor,” Tai was quoted as saying.
Current typhoon insurance schemes compensate car damage from falling trees, flying debris or floods, he said, adding that the annual premium and maximum coverage for domestically produced vehicle are NT$4,000 and NT$500,000 respectively, while those for an imported car are NT$8,000 and NT$1 million.
Those amounts can cover repairs to most vehicles, unless the car is not salvageable and needs to be replaced, he said.
Tai said that Typhoon Soudelor could cost the government more, as it has to pay for the cleaning and replanting of thousands of trees felled by the typhoon.
The government has paid little attention to the environmental engineering insurance promoted by the insurance industry, but the government would have been well-protected had it taken out such insurance, he said.
The Financial Supervisory Commission said that there are multiple low interest rate loan schemes available at 24 Taiwanese banks to provide disaster loans, including personal, housing and corporate loans to typhoon victims to carry out post-disaster reconstruction, according to the report.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it