COVID-19 Insurance in Nepal  

COVID-19 Insurance policy was introduced in Nepal on 19th April 2020 by the Insurance Regulatory Authority of Nepal (Beema Samiti). The COVID19 policy can be sold through a non-life microinsurance pool and can be bought using an online payment system. The government has taken 20 non-life insurance companies on board for the process.

Categories of Insurance

This insurance is provided to the people living in Nepal only. There is a provision of individualized, family, and group. The policy is divided into two categories, A and B, where A refers to 1 Lakh sum insured per person, and B refers to 50 thousand sums insured per person.

 • For A category: Person taking Individual premium insurance should pay NRs. 1000 and for group or family premium, they should pay Nrs. 600 each.

 • For B category: Person taking Individual Premium should pay Rs. 500, and for group and family premium, they should pay Nrs. 300 each

Government Role

It is stated that the government pays the premium for COVID-19 insurance of its civil servants and has said it will bear 50% of the amount for the private and institutional group insurance. However, the government does not pay for the premium if the insurance was done for a single person.

Note: It is reported that although the policy mentioned above was introduced at the beginning, there have been various unofficial and uninformed changes made. It is now said that the companies have changed the criteria of COVID-19 insurance so that the infected person would get only Rs 25,000, and the remaining amount would be provided based on the hospital treatment bill. 

Coverage of the Policy: The sum insured is given outright once if the person tests positive for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Test.

Document Required to Apply for COVID-19 Insurance

The documents that are required for the insurance claim are:

For Individual Insurance: 
•    Completion of request form with personal details.
•    A self-declared application that the individualized in not infected with COVID19
•    Authorized document from the local government bodies that the person is in the country for the last 30 days.
•    Citizenship certificate

For Family Insurance:
•    Completion of request form with the person and their family member's name and personal details.
•    A self-declared application that none of the family members are infected with COVID19
•    Authorized document from the local government bodies stating the person and all the family members are in the country for the last 30 days. The paper should contain the personal details of everyone (including name, age, citizenship number, and relation)

Note: If the individual or family has returned from the foreign country, then they have to present a government authorized certificate of completion of 15day quarantine and 15 days of home isolation besides to claim the insurance.

For Institutional (Group) Insurance:
•    Completion of request form with insurers
•    Completion of request for with all the employee's personal details including age, citizenship number, and designation.
•    A self-declared application that none of the employees are infected with COVID19
•    Self-declared certificate in the company's letterhead stating that none of the employees had left the country for the last 30days.
•    Certificate of Institution's PAN number.      

Terms & Conditions of the Policy

•    Age Limit: None
•    The waiting period for the claim is up to 15 days from the commencement of the policy.
•    Insurer can inspect the records of the insured at any time during the policy period.
•    This Policy is applicable within the territory of Nepal.
•   If the insured is out of the country, the insurance policy becomes inactive.The Policy is automatically revived if the policyholder returns to Nepal from abroad. The policy will be revived after 15 days at the entry of Nepal till the end of the Insurance period.

Document Required for Insurance Claim
The documents that are required for the insurance claim settlements are:
•    Insurers name, date, and details of the beginning of the disease
•    Duly filled Claim form
•    Confirmation Test paper of COVID 19, in case of hospitalization, the discharge certificate or certificate signed by the Doctor is needed.
    
Claim Procedure in Case of Death
•    If the death claim arises within the policy period, the claim is paid to the insured's nominee.
•    The claim related papers should be submitted to the insurer within the seven days of the event.

View the detail regarding latest policies of Beema samiti here: https://nib.gov.np

(Disclaimer: The information is gathered from the existing sources and are subject to change as per government and insurance policies)