Benefits for fishermen when participating in Boat Insurance

(Baonghean) - PJICO Nghe An Insurance Company is the unit approved by the Ministry of Finance to implement "Offshore fishing insurance according to Decree No. 67/CP". Since 2014, the Company has performed well in ship insurance, promptly paying damages to fishermen, so that they can confidently stay at sea.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Tien, Quynh Nghia commune (Quynh Luu) has a boat with registration number NA 99899TS that had an explosion and fire incident in early 2016. When the incident happened, his family reported it to the representative of PJICO Nghe An Insurance Company, where he purchased boat insurance. Immediately after that, insurance officers quickly came down to verify and complete the procedures, compensated 450 million VND, and promptly helped his family repair the boat so that they could continue sailing.

Most boats in Hoang Mai town are insured.

Quynh Luu district is a unit that has implemented boat insurance for fishermen well. According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dinh - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Quynh Luu district, up to now, 100% of boats in the district have participated in insurance. In the first 6 months of 2016 alone, the whole district had 447 boats that had expired and continued to buy insurance, along with 4,229 fishermen participating in crew insurance with a total insurance premium of more than 8.3 billion VND. The settlement of benefits for participants of insurance was resolved promptly by the supplier, encouraging fishermen to go offshore, maintain the sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland, and increase the trust of customers.

Thanks to full insurance participation, when facing risks, fishermen have been compensated and the consequences have been quickly resolved. Typically, the case of Mr. Nguyen Quoc Tien's boat, registered number NA 99899TS, in Quynh Nghia commune, which caught fire, was paid 450 million VND; the case of Mr. Quang Van Toan's boat, NA 95225 TS, in Son Hai commune, which sank, was paid 120 million VND; the case of Mr. Ho Suu's boat, NA 90437 TS, in Quynh Nghia commune, which had part of its hold burnt, was paid 53 million VND...

According to the Government's policy, each crew member traveling on a ship is supported by the state with 100% insurance, without having to pay any money. In addition, ships over 400CV are supported with up to 90% insurance, ships under 400 are supported with up to 70%. Thus, a ship with an annual insurance value of 40 million VND, the owner of the vehicle only has to pay 4 million VND. When there is a risk, they can receive great support, so fishermen are excited to participate... In Hoang Mai town, up to now, there are 366 ships participating in insurance, reaching over 96%.

Mr. Nguyen Van Le - Director of PJICO Nghe An Insurance Company said: Immediately after being approved by the Ministry of Finance to be the leading unit to organize the implementation of supporting seafood exploitation insurance for fishermen in Nghe An and some provinces. The company has coordinated with the provincial departments and functional branches to prepare in many aspects to implement seafood exploitation insurance according to Decree 67/CP, and has organized professional training courses for the company's staff and agent system in the province; Coordinated with the Department of Exploitation - Protection of Aquatic Resources to localities with fishing vessels covered by insurance according to Decree 67 to propagate and mobilize fishermen to participate in insurance.

When participating in insurance, if there is an accident, fishing boats will be paid compensation.

The company also conducts training on fishing vessel insurance to guide fishermen on the contents, rules, conditions, terms and benefits of participating in insurance; at the same time, quickly answer questions about support policies for fishermen. Basically, the implementation of Decree 67 on mobilizing fishermen to participate in purchasing insurance for crew and vessels is quite favorable. First of all, the local authorities of communes, districts and towns pay attention and coordinate smoothly, thereby raising awareness for fishermen in participating in insurance to protect their assets and feel secure in their profession.

In particular, PJICO Nghe An Insurance Company has promptly resolved the fishermen's benefits. The number of compensated ships for losses is 343 cases, equivalent to 9,067,866,462 VND. Of which, 300 ship hulls are equivalent to 8,056,166,462 VND, 43 crew members are equivalent to 1,011,700 VND (of which 8 crew members died). The number of uncompensated ships for losses is 126 cases, equivalent to 6 billion VND (of which 1 ship of Ho Su Ky fishermen sank in Thanh Hoa, estimated compensation for the ship hull is 2.5 billion VND and 1 crew member was seriously injured.

To facilitate fishermen to participate in boat insurance, the team of consultants and insurance agents of PJICO Nghe An Insurance Company regularly stay at the base to clearly explain to fishermen the insurance rules, insurance levels, conditions for compensation settlement, especially difficult technical terms and to minimize cumbersome procedures. The company also has a 24/7 hotline to receive information about fishermen's feedback for timely handling.

The state's policies on ship and crew insurance have become a great support, helping fishermen feel secure in going out to sea to protect the sovereignty of the sea and islands.

Van Truong