Bangkok--25 Jun--NCIF
Mr. Payungsak Chartsutipol, Chairman of the board, National Catastrophe Insurance Fund announced that over the past year of the fund’s operation, it has had a significant role in resuming Thai insurance industry to normal situation at a faster pace than previous expectation. The fund also functioned as a major driving factor providing risk management through insurance and reinsurance which helped restoring Thais and foreign investors’ confidence pursuing business in Thailand further resulting in Thai economic expansion.
Moreover, the fund existence also provided national catastrophe risk management to household, Small and Medium Enterprises(SMEs) including industrial sectors by facilitating them to access to catastrophe insurance policies which offering coverage against damages from the 3 catastrophes; flood, earthquake and windstorm at appropriate insurance premium rate set between 0.5-1.25 percent of the sum insured.
From 28 March 2012 to 24 May 2013, a total of 1,017,419 catastrophe insurance policies were sold. Of those, 992,192 policies are insured currently representing 53,682 million baht in proportional reinsurance coverage and 465 million baht in proportional reinsurance premiums.
This figure indicated that private sector increased awareness and acknowledgement on the importance of holding catastrophe insurance policies including trusting on National Catastrophe Insurance Fund’s role in protecting their assets and facilitating business continuity once the future catastrophe be occured and this helped strengthening industrial sector to pursue business continuously making Thailand remains a manufacturing hub for Thais and foreign business eventually.
Meanwhile, the fund existence also helps non-life insurance companies to increase their coverage capacities. In the year 2012, the proportion of risk increased to 7.6 percentage point on average and this figure seem to reach 10 percentage point this year according to the better market mechanism resulting in premium interest rate adjustment at major insurance companies offered with a plus of National Catastrophe Insurance Fund allowing insurance company selling catastrophe insurance policy with premium rate lower than the fund by 20 percent. The chairman of the board saw this as a positive signal that insurance sector is in a stable stage and stronger ever.
The fund will pursue building awareness amongst household and business sectors about the importance of holding catastrophe insurance policies as a self-catastrophe risk management protecting their asset and facilitate business continuity once the severe catastrophe be occured in the future.
For more information, please visit www.ncif.or.th