The number of micro insurance policies in Taiwan is expected to reach 200,000 by the end of the year, in line with the government’s goal, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman William Tseng (曾銘宗) said on Saturday.
The government’s efforts to promote micro insurance as way of protecting disadvantaged citizens with scant financial resources have paid off, Tseng said.
So far this year, 23 insurance companies operating nationwide have donated NT$24 million (US$738,348) to disadvantaged households and welfare groups to purchase micro insurance, he said.
This means the government’s goal of seeing a total of 200,000 micro insurance policies in place by the end of the year is well within reach, he said.
Since the micro insurance initiative was launched — in November 2009 — the number of policies has reached 188,800, with a total insured amount of NT$6.5 billion, the commission said.
The commission said its efforts to promote micro insurance succeeded in increasing the number of policies by 130,000 over the past two years, compared with 53,000 in the previous four years.
Under FSC regulations, single people with an annual income of less than NT$250,000, and households with a combined annual income of less than NT$500,000, are eligible to purchase micro insurance policies.
Aborigines farmers, fishermen and households with a physically or mentally challenged member are also eligible for micro insurance policies.
The annual premium for low-income families is NT$300, which gives each family member coverage of up to NT$500,000.
Tseng said that in addition to promoting micro insurance, the government has been pushing for pension insurance and long-term care insurance in a bid to provide adequate protection for the nation’s aging society.
The insurance business has become one of the pillars of the nation’s social welfare system and there is growing awareness of the need for insurance, he said.
Taiwanese hold on average 2.3 insurance policies, and the total assets of the insurance sector are worth NT$19 trillion, Tseng added.
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