European Insurers Have to Pay Compensation for Downed Ukrainian Plane
IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK
TEHRAN – Iranian insurance companies will not compensate Ukraine International Airlines for its plane Tehran accidentally downed in January because the passenger jet was insured by European firms, the head of Iran’s Central Insurance Organization said yesterday.
Speaking at an online presser, Gholamreza Soleimani said, “The Ukrainian plane is insured by European companies in Ukraine and not by Iranian (insurance) companies, therefore, compensation should be paid by those European companies.”
He also said Iran’s insurance industry has been affected by the Coronavirus pandemic and the pandemic has increased damage and decreased the revenues in the insurance industry.
He said the insurance companies have to pay the cost of medical treatment of Coronavirus-hit patients if the patients have complementary insurances.
Soleimani added that the total revenue of insurance industry last year was some 59,000b tomans while the damage ratio in the same year was 89 percent. He noted the damage ratio in the world is lower and between 60 to 65 percent, adding the insurance per capita in Iran is 710,000 tomans which is small amount comparing to $718 in the world.
He further said that last year, insurance companies issued 80m insurance policies as 22m were for vehicles which enjoyed the third party insurance.
Soleimani said that studies show that insurance industry in the world in 2020 will see decline in earning and penetration ratio will decrease, but in 2021, there will be no problem and the world will face 3 percent rise in portfolio.
He reiterated according to the predictions, Coronavirus will soon be curbed and insurance industry will against witness economic boom and the condition for travel insurance will get improved.
Soleimani stated that this year is a tough year and it is predicted the insurance income to decrease and the losses also to rise , emphasizing that next year and after the curb of the virus, the insurance penetration would rise from the current 2.5 percent to 2.7 percent.
