Govt unconcerned about Covid-19 Insurance Policy

Kathmandu: The government, which shouldered the responsibility of Covid-19 Insurance policy, has not been able to withdraw the amount and millions of insured have been deprived of compensation. 

Withdrawal of money from the government for Covid-19 insurance has been stalled for the past six months.

At present, the outstanding amount of Covid-19 Insurance  policy has exceeded Rs 10 billion. About one lakh insured people have not received payment even after claiming the insurance. Payments from insurance companies have stopped from May since the government failed to pay.

As of last May, the companies had paid only Rs 3.5 billion. Of this, the Insurance  Regulatory Authority of Nepal under the government has one billion rupees and the remaining money belongs to the insurance company and the insurance company. The Covid-19 insurance program is  closed for now.

Chunky Chhetri, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sagarmatha Insurance, says that the government’s non-withdrawal has effected the insurance companies.

“The government doesn’t pay for the Covid-19 insurance, the insurer blames the company,” he said.

The non-life insurance company had started Covid-19 insurance in January 2020 after the Corona virus was found in Nepal.

The insurance company launched and publicized the new type of insurance policy for the first time on April 19 2020. As the new disease started spreading rapidly, Nepalis began to insure Covid-19  due to its  terror, which was not assessed by the insurance company itself.

However, after insuring three lakh people in the first month of the insurance policy, the insurance company had to bear more liabilities than its capital. Due to which, the company withdrew from Covid-19 Insurance policy within a month.

The government had taken charge of Covid-19 policy through the budget after the insurance companies withdrew, saying they could not handle Covid-19 insurance policy. However, even after a month of  the end of  Covid-19 insurance policy, the government still has been unconcerned about it. 

The Nepal Insurers Association (NIA) had sent a letter to the finance ministry two months ago to pay the covid-19 insurance amount. At that time, KP Sharma Oli was the Prime Minister and Bishnu Poudel was the Finance Minister.

Janardan Sharma has been appointed as the Finance Minister of the new government and the Nepal Insurers association (NIA) has sent another letter to the new Finance Minister. 

However, the finance ministry has not discussed the matter. So far, there has been no discussion on Covid-19 insurance in the finance ministry, says finance ministry spokesperson Mahesh Acharya.