The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on Tuesday called on property insurance companies to safeguard the rights of policyholders at a time when Taiwan faces a surge in COVID-19 infections.
Since late last year, several insurers have launched COVID-19 policies, which would require them to compensate policyholders who are infected with the virus and given medical treatment.
At least seven policies would also cover treatment for COVID-19 in a negative pressure isolation room, FSC data showed.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Although the number of domestic cases is rising — with demand for hospital beds and isolation rooms increasing — some infected policyholders have not been hospitalized, but placed in centralized quarantine facilities or hotels because they are asymptomatic or only show mild symptoms.
This prompted the Consumers’ Foundation earlier on Tuesday to raise the concern of whether insurers would compensate policyholders in such circumstances.
The foundation also raised the concern of whether insurers would compensate policyholders if a negative pressure isolation room was not available, saying that Taiwan only has about 1,000 such rooms.
Separately on Tuesday, Insurance Bureau Director-General Shih Chiung-hwa (施瓊華) said that the commission requested that insurers be lenient when reviewing policyholders’ claims given the tight supply of medical facilities.
As of Monday, insurance companies had paid out NT$64.75 million (US$2.33 million) to 880 policyholders.
Of that amount, NT$60.35 million, or 93 percent, was paid by Taiwan Fire & Marine Insurance Co (台灣產物保險), which earlier this year introduced a product offering up to NT$100,000 for a stay in quarantine, FSC data showed.
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