Insurance companies could face their highest number of claims since the COVID-19 pandemic, due to property damage and canceled flights caused by Typhoon Gaemi, Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) statistics showed.
Nearly 400 international flights were canceled or delayed on Wednesday and Thursday last week due to the typhoon, affecting almost 60,000 insured passengers, with total eligible compensation exceeding NT$1 billion (US$30.46 million), the statistics showed.
“In the past, few Taiwanese bought travel insurance, but that changed during the pandemic,” a source said on Saturday.
Photo: Daniel Ceng, EPA-EFE
“Now we are seeing many people purchase travel health insurance plans, as well as inconvenience insurance for inclement weather or other contingencies that result in delayed or canceled travel,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Such insurance plans have become the top-selling products in the property and casualty insurance industry, largely due to their cheap premiums, the source said.
There were more than 2 million online purchases of travel insurance in the first half of this year, up from 1.23 million over the same period last year, the statistics showed.
Travel insurance premiums totaled NT$621 million over the period, an increase from NT$380 a year earlier.
Online travel insurance purchases account for more than half of all travel insurance purchases, industry estimates showed.
The top-grossing travel insurance providers are Fubon Insurance, Tokio Marine Holdings and Cathay Century Insurance Co, which together account for 65 percent of the market.
Common travel-related claims that companies face include those related to trip cancellations, flight delays, baggage losses or delays, and losses of travel documents, the statistics showed.
The eligibility conditions for claims related to flight delays are the most relaxed, the source said.
“As long as the departure time of a scheduled flight is delayed by more than four hours, the insurance company would pay the claim after obtaining a certificate from the airline,” they said.
However, companies commenting on claims related to Typhoon Gaemi have said they would allow claims for flight changes or cancellations, as long as the passenger had purchased travel inconvenience insurance.
“The free comprehensive insurance Taiwanese automatically receive when purchasing flight tickets using a credit card issued by a Taiwanese bank cannot be used in this case,” the source said. “The conditions of that free insurance typically apply only to flights departing from airports overseas.”
Companies said that losses from payouts related to Typhoon Gaemi would be abnormally high, but due to the generally low loss rate on such insurance, the payouts would be well within what the industry could bear.
“Many people are becoming mroe interested in inconvenience insurance as it significantly reduces losses when the unexpected happens,” the source said.
“However, it is important to remember that companies can only sell you inconvenience insurance after you have already purchased a regular travel insurance plan,” they said.
Travel insurance can be purchased up to one hour before departure, but travel inconvenience insurance purchased after the Central Weather Administration has issued a typhoon warning is not valid, the source said.
“So, companies recommend that people purchase insurance as soon as possible after confirming their overseas travel itinerary,” they said.
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