The Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) approved liquidity enhancement measures for three insurance companies, namely Syn Mun Kong Insurance (SMK), Thai Insurance and One Insurance, to help them pay outstanding Covid insurance claims.
Suthipol Thaweechaikarn, the OIC's secretary-general, revealed that the OIC has passed the resolution to give the three insurers waiver measures to enhance their financial liquidity amid a surge of Covid claims.
The resolution will be effective from Sept 30, 2021, until June 30, 2022, according to the registrar's statement.
The OIC will monitor the operations of all three companies to ensure they strictly comply with the specified conditions.
In the case of a failure to comply, there will be a proposal to the registrar to immediately cancel the waiver measures as they are temporary mechanisms aimed at helping insurance companies facing liquidity problems on a case-by-case basis to protect policyholders.
According to the OIC, the waiver measures will allow insurance companies to hold more cash on hand and consequently provide insurance companies with increased financial liquidity and flexibility in business operations to pay compensation to the insured during the pandemic.
Additionally, the policy gives the companies more options to find other sources of funding that are faster to access than raising capital and reducing the burden of deposit fees with the company's financial institutions.
Moreover, it gives insurance companies more time to improve their capital and liquidity positions to meet the rates required by law.
"I ask that the people be confident that the aforementioned easing measures will enhance flexibility in business operations for all three companies, which currently suffer liquidity problems from paying large amounts of Covid insurance claims and prevent the implications from the issues from spilling out and hurting the policyholders who have filed claims for Covid insurance," said Mr Suthipol.
For further inquiries, customers can contact the OIC hotline on 1186 or visit www.oic.or.th, he added.