Total compensation from local insurance companies for people who died or were hurt in the Taroko Express No. 408 train crash in Hualien County on Friday is estimated to reach NT$650 million (US$22.82 million), the Financial Supervisory Commission said yesterday.
The 2018 derailment of Puyuma Express No. 6432 near the Sinma (新馬) Railway Station in Yilan County resulted in NT$1.7 billion in compensation, while NT$4.64 billion was paid after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Tainan in 2016, commission data showed.
Friday’s incident was the nation’s worst train crash in decades, killing 50 people and injuring 211, the Hualien District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Cathay Century Insurance Co (國泰世紀產險), which underwrote a liability insurance policy for the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA), is expected to pay NT$200 million, Insurance Bureau Deputy Director-General Chang Yu-hui (張玉輝) told a news conference in New Taipei City.
The amount is the cap for Cathay Century’s coverage for a single incident, Chang said.
The property insurer would pay NT$2.5 million apiece to the families of those who died in the train crash, NT$1.4 million each for those severely injured and NT$400,000 each for those less severely hurt, the commission said.
The TRA would pay the rest if the overall compensation claimed by the families totals more than NT$200 million, Chang said.
MSIG Mingtai Insurance Co (明台產險), which provides compulsory vehicle insurance for the TRA, said that there is no limit to its coverage for a single incident.
MSIG Mingtai is expected to pay NT$140 million in compensation, Chang said.
MSIG Mingtai would pay NT$2 million apiece to the families of those who passed away, NT$2 million each to those who sustained disabling injuries and NT$200,000 each for those less severely injured, the commission said.
The compulsory vehicle insurance offered by MSIG Mingtai covers damage inflicted due to vehicles owned by the TRA, which would include the crane truck that the Taroko Express train hit, Chang said.
Among the 261 casualties, 211 people had bought life insurance policies, 42 of whom died and 169 of whom were injured, he said, adding that their individual compensations combined totaled NT$240 million.
Four people who bought tickets using credit cards had travel insurance coverage from the issuer bank in collaboration with insurance companies, Chang said, adding that they are entitled to combined compensation of NT$70 million.
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