BANGKOK, April 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Mr. Payungsak Chartsutthiphon, the president of the Executive Committee of the National Catastrophe Insurance Fund of Thailand, announced that over the past year of the Fund's operation it has been able to insure an increasing number of households and businesses against three types of disasters: flooding, earthquakes, and storms. This achievement represents a great improvement over the situation at the time of the catastrophic floods of 2011, when foreign reinsurance companies would not reinsure properties or charge greatly increased premiums, taking a toll on the financial resources and expenditures of business people in the industrial sector and the general public. After the Fund began its operation, it set a single, standard rate of 0.5 to 1.25 percent for premiums that applied nationwide, resulting in a continuous reduction in reinsurance premiums.
During the past year of the Fund's existence, from 28 March 2012 to 21 March 2013, a total of 808,119 catastrophe insurance policies were sold, representing 52,123 million baht in proportional reinsurance coverage and 420 million baht in proportional reinsurance premiums. Catastrophe insurance policies purchased by households accounted for the largest share, 92 percent, of the total policies sold, while policies purchased by SMEs made up 7 percent of the total and industrial customers, 1 percent.
Furthermore, it was found that the households, at 58 percent, accounted for the largest portion the overall proportional reinsurance fund, with the industrial sector in second place at 26 percent, followed by the SME sector at 16 percent. These rankings result from the fact that the industrial client group pay the greatest amount in premiums, 44 percent of the total, followed by households at 36 percent and SMEs at 20 percent, with no claims filed to date.
The operation to date of the National Catastrophe Insurance Fund of Thailand has been a factor in the successful restoration of private sector's confidence in the country, and this in turn has helped to propel the Thai economy forward. Therefore, as the operation of the fund progresses it will serve as the central force in restoring the insurance industry to its normal state.
