Dr. Somporn Suebthawilkul, President of the Thai General Insurance Association, said that the earthquake event has affected many areas across Thailand, causing widespread damage, particularly in major cities, to buildings, homes, condominiums, residences, and other structures, causing significant hardship to the public. The Thai General Insurance Association has been closely monitoring the situation, and sends its concern to policyholders and members of the public who suffered damage from the earthquake event, while advising policyholders in the affected earthquake areas to check whether their insurance policies provide coverage for earthquake damage. If covered, they should promptly report the damage to their insurance company, to benefit from a quick claims settlement.
In addition, to care for and serve policyholders who suffered damage from the earthquake event, the Thai General Insurance Association has established an insurance coordination and facilitation center, to provide assistance to policyholders affected by this disaster. Operations cover facilitating claims, verifying information in cases where policy documents are lost, as well as providing advice on coverage details via telephone at 0 2108 8399 and the online channel Facebook: Thai General Insurance Association, 24 hours a day, while publicizing the hotline numbers of all insurance companies for the public to know and be able to contact conveniently and quickly, including coordinating with member companies to prepare to provide full assistance services, and expediting claims payment, to relieve the hardship of policyholders as quickly as possible.
The insurance policies that provide coverage for earthquake damage are as follows:
1. Home fire insurance policies provide coverage for earthquake damage up to 20,000 baht per year, with additional coverage available for purchase. The number of home fire insurance policies in Bangkok and its vicinity is 2,233,518 policies, while other provinces have 3,145,880 policies, for a nationwide total of 5,379,398 home fire insurance policies.
For condominium insurance, the juristic person’s portion is covered under an Industrial All Risk (IAR) insurance policy, covering damage to the common area of the building, such as the building structure, elevators, common stairways, swimming pool, fitness area, and other common property, receiving coverage for earthquake damage according to the sub-limit amount. Meanwhile, the unit owner’s portion is covered under a home fire insurance policy, covering damage to property inside the unit, furniture, electrical appliances, decorations, and other property inside the unit, receiving coverage for earthquake damage up to 20,000 baht per year, with additional coverage available for purchase.
2. Fire insurance policies for business premises and shops will provide coverage for earthquake damage only for policies that have purchased additional earthquake coverage. The number of fire insurance policies in Bangkok and its vicinity is 452,716 policies, while other provinces have 661,806 policies, for a nationwide total of 1,114,522 fire insurance policies.
3. Industrial All Risk (IAR) insurance policies for general shop operators, offices, hotels, schools, industrial factories, and various business premises, provide coverage for damage to structures and property inside the insured structures from any accident not specifically excluded, receiving coverage for earthquake damage according to the sub-limit amount. The number of Industrial All Risk insurance policies in Bangkok and its vicinity is 95,372 policies, while other provinces have 99,017 policies, for a nationwide total of 194,389 Industrial All Risk insurance policies.
For business interruption insurance, this covers losses from business interruption, trading losses (the policyholder’s income), net profit, including operating expenses (employee wages, office rent, factory rent, etc.), as a result of any structure or other property that the policyholder uses to conduct business being damaged, and covered under a fire insurance policy or Industrial All Risk insurance policy, without any specific exclusion.
4. Construction all risks insurance policies for contractors or construction contractors, which provide coverage for construction work, renovation work, decoration work, or machinery installation work that suffers damage from an accident or unforeseeable event, or other causes not specified in the exclusions, providing coverage for earthquake risk, comprising construction and civil engineering work, machinery installation, and third-party liability.
5. Motor insurance policies provide coverage for earthquake damage only for Class 1 motor insurance policies. For Class 2, Class 3, or Class 5 (2+ and 3+) policies, an endorsement can be purchased to add natural disaster coverage to the motor insurance policy, or earthquake coverage can be purchased separately.
6. Accident insurance policies cover bodily injury including death caused by an accident, including accidents from an earthquake.
“Natural disasters are unpredictable, but preparedness, particularly insurance planning, is an important tool for risk management to reduce the potential impact on life and property. This event is believed to make the public more aware of the importance of having insurance, and the business sector has drawn lessons in disaster risk management while reviewing risk assessment methods, because it can now be seen that a peril that has never occurred in the past does not mean it cannot occur in the future. For this reason, many perils that were once overlooked or not seriously considered may need to be comprehensively reassessed, both in terms of underwriting and setting premium rates consistent with actual risk.”
“The non-life insurance business serves as a professional risk manager for the public, the economy, and society. The Thai General Insurance Association and the non-life insurance business sector stand ready to stand alongside and care for policyholders in every situation, so that policyholders can overcome every crisis together,” the President of the Thai General Insurance Association concluded.