Covid19 Fraud Claim Increases - Thailand

Claims lodged on popular COVID-19 insurance policies in Thailand have grown tenfold since last year, prompting the insurance authorities to launch investigations into possible fraud. The Office of Insurance Commission (OIC), the country's insurance regulator, has warned on its website it is investigating possible insurance fraud after seeing COVID claims soar.

As of end-April 2020, when Thailand began witnessing a third wave of the pandemic, the number of COVID-19 policyholders stood at 13.8m with total premiums of THB5.9bn ($184m), according to the OIC. COVID-19 claims for the month jumped to THB1.7bn from THB170m the previous year.

Deliberately becoming infected - Analysts attributed the rise in COVID-19 claims to the pandemic-battered Thai economy, which has seen people hit so hard that they deliberately risk infection to receive insurance payouts. With suspicious claims rising, some major non-life insurance companies have stopped selling COVID-19 policies.

The Thai General Insurance Association — which comprises all 56 non-life insurance companies in Thailand — is warning people against deliberately becoming infected with COVID-19 in order to claim compensation because they may face fraud charges.

When COVID first struck Thailand last year, several insurers started to offer non-life COVID-19 insurance policies. Customers could buy coverage ranging from THB100,000 to THB300,000 for about THB500 a year.