All Insurance Companies In Malaysia Will Provide Medical Coverage For The Wuhan Virus
Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM) made the announcement last Friday, 31 January.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 05 Feb 2020, 03:29 PM
As the number of confirmed cases for the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) raises to 10 in Malaysia, it was announced that insurance companies and takaful operators in the country will provide medical coverage to their users
In a statement on 31 January, Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM) chief executive officer Mark O'Dell said that LIAM and the Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA) have declared that insurance plans/companies will cover treatment and hospitalisation due to the new virus, reported The Edge Markets.
"Even though a majority of medical policies or certificates carry an exclusion on communicable diseases requiring quarantine by law, the Malaysian life insurers and takaful operators are responding to an immediate need of the nation by waiving the exclusion on quarantine by law, in light of the increasing number of people who have been affected," The Star quoted O'Dell as saying.
The LIAM CEO added that policy or certificate holders should check with their respective insurance companies or takaful operators to understand the terms and conditions of the coverage
O'Dell's announcement came on the same day after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the 2019-nCoV as a global health emergency.
The following 34 companies are members of LIAM and MTA:
Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM) members:
1. AIA
2. Allianz Life
3. AmMet Life
4. AXA Affin Life
5. Etiqa Life
6. Gibraltar BSN Life
7. Great Eastern Life
8. Hannover Rueck (reinsurer)
9. Hong Leong Assurance
10. Manulife Insurance
11. Malaysian Life Reassurance (reinsurer)
12. MCIS Insurance
13. Prudential Assurance
14. Sun Life Malaysia
15. Tokio Marine Life
16. Zurich Life
Malaysian Takaful Association (MTA) members:
1. AIA PUBLIC Takaful
2. AmMetLife Takaful
3. Etiqa Family Takaful
4. Etiqa General Takaful
5. Great Eastern Takaful
6. Hong Leong MSIG Takaful
7. FWD Takaful Berhad (Formerly known as HSBC Amanah Takaful)
8. Zurich Takaful Malaysia
9. Zurich General Takaful
10. Munich Re Retakaful
11. Prudential BSN Takaful
12. Sun Life Malaysia Takaful
13. Swiss Re Retakaful
14. Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga
15. Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Am
16. Takaful Ikhlas Family
17. Takaful Ikhlas General
18. Malaysian Re
Following the announcement, some of these companies took to social media to confirm the good news, assuring their policyholders
"Rest assured that all AIA medical plans cover our customers who require hospitalisation and treatment as a result of the coronavirus, subject to the plans' terms," AIA Malaysia wrote in a Facebook post.
This is not the first time insurance companies and takaful operators had extended medical coverage on "communicable diseases requiring quarantine by law".
RinggitPlus noted that during the Influenza A (H1N1) outbreak in 2009, major insurance companies had allowed medical payouts too.
