Nepal:COVID-19 claims must be settled within a week, says regulator

With COVID-19 claims piling up across the country, the Nepal insurance regulator has asked insurers to settle COVID-19 claims within a week of submission.

Insurance companies in Nepal are finding the going tough as they try to deal with the quantum jump in the number of COVID-19 claims being lodged across the country resulting in huge delays in settling claims. This has created a negative impact on the market as insurers have seen a huge fall in the sale of COVID-19 insurance policies over the past few months even as the pandemic continues to spread. 

Insurers are citing lack of proper documents as well as proof of infection as reasons for the delay in settling claims, which has not gone down well with policy holders.

Beema Samiti, the insurance regulator, has now intervened in the matter and formed a committee to coordinate and monitor the claims payment process by insurers. The committee has also been advised to set up a hotline and help desk for policy holders where they can lodge their COVID-19 claims related complaints.

In April, in the wake of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, the regulator directed all 20 non-life insurers in the market to issue coronavirus insurance policies. The policy named ‘COVID-19 insurance scheme’ was classified into two categories and citizens had the option to select between individual and family plans.

As per the policy terms, claims are to be settled within seven days of making the claim if an insured person tests positive for the virus from PCR tests conducted in the government labs accredited by the ministry of health and population.

The scheme was subsequently changed a few months later when claims became unmanageable for insurers. Nepal has recorded close to 183,000 COVID-19 positive cases and 1,000 deaths from the pandemic so far.

Source: Asia Insurance Review