Total premiums from sales of COVID-19 policies by local insurance companies grew to NT$1.91 billion (US$64.24 million) as of Monday, which is slightly higher than the cumulative amount of compensation of NT$1.8 billion paid to those infected or in quarantine, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) data showed.
The commission yesterday refused to forecast whether compensation would surpass premium income, but the data indicate that cumulative compensation rose much more rapidly over the past week than premium income — the amount of compensation grew 66 percent from NT$1.08 billion a week earlier, while premium income gained 3.2 percent from NT$1.85 billion.
The number of COVID-19 insurance policies sold rose 4 percent from a week earlier to 2.5 million, while a total of 49,904 policyholders had been compensated as of Monday, up 78 percent from 27,943 a week earlier, the data showed.
Photo: Pan Shao-tang, Taipei Times
Because many local insurance companies have stopped offering policies that compensate policyholders who are infected with COVID-19 or have to undergo quarantine, there are only four COVID-19 policies remaining on the market and they only offer coverage for those with severe symptoms, the data showed.
In related news, the FSC yesterday said that insurance companies cannot refuse to compensate those who choose to follow a “3+4” policy — isolate at home for three days and practice self-disease prevention for four days.
The commission’s comment came after lawmakers criticized some companies for rejecting the compensation claims of those who chose to follow the “3+4” policy, even though they were eligible to avoid quarantine by opting for the “0+7” policy.
The Central Epidemic Command Center on Monday announced that close contacts of COVID-19 cases who have received a booster shot no longer need to isolate at home and can choose to follow the “0+7” policy — just seven days of self-disease prevention.
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