Only US$33k compensation paid out in Yunnan earthquake
Staff Reporter 2012-09-12 11:55 (GMT+8)
Heavy rainfall added to Yunnan's woes after the earthquake. (Photo/Xinhua)
A Chinese insurance company has only paid 210,000 yuan (US$33,000) in compensation to earthquake victims since the disaster took place in Yiliang in the southwestern province of Yunnan four days ago.
The earthquake is estimated to have caused 3.7 billion yuan (US$583 million) in direct economic losses.
China lacks insurance for large-scale natural disaster coverage which is common in other countries, said Zhu Minglai, a professor at Nankai University in Tianjin. The province's insurance regulatory commission said the documents required for compensation are insufficient since rescue operations are still ongoing.
Although many major Chinese insurers have set up teams and sent their staff to the areas to evaluate the damage, the commission said only China Pacific Insurance, Cathay Life Insurance and Sunshine Insurance Group has paid 200,000 yuan (US$31,500), 4,000 yuan (US$631) and 1,770 yuan (US$279) respectively as of Sunday.
The earthquake has left 80 dead, 820 injured, 744,000 displaced and 7,138 houses destroyed.
Zhang Minghe, the general manager of the Yunnan division of PICC Property and Casualty Company, said only a few people have claimed compensation so far due to ongoing rescue operations. Compensation for the earthquake is likely to be smaller than expected as the number of companies and their scale in the region only amounted to 3% of its total revenue over the first five months this year, according to the insurance commission.
Zhu Minglai recommended that China should follow Taiwan's model, making earthquake coverage a mandatory part of property insurance. China has been drafting a new law to implement an insurance policy for the agricultural industry and natural disasters, in which disaster insurance will be included in the national disaster prevention system, according to Xiang Junbo, the chairman of the insurance commission.
