PETALING JAYA: The finance ministry is exploring ways to include pandemic related factors in business interruption insurance coverage.
In a parliamentary written reply to Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming, the ministry said that this form of coverage is typically offered as an add-on service to fire insurance, and generally covers interruptions caused by floods, lightning storms and damage to one’s premises.
“Losses caused by business disruption arising from a curfew order due to a Covid-19 outbreak are generally not included as a risk covered under existing business interruption insurance policies in Malaysia, just as in other countries. This is due to the difficulty in assessing the probability and potential risk of losses, as well as the lack of support from reinsurers,” it said.
However, “to support the reopening of the economy and economic activities, the government, Bank Negara Malaysia and the insurance and takaful industries are reviewing measures to encourage the provision of pandemic or endemic risks in business interruption insurance in Malaysia.”
The ministry said this could involve a form of risk sharing between the government and private sector to enable wider and more sustainable access to protection and support the market’s capacity to underwrite these risks at an affordable price to customers.
Gaming revenue halved
In another written reply to Pokok Sena MP Mahfuz Omar, the ministry said tax collected from gaming activities plummeted this year amid restrictions, with just RM834.46 million channelled to the government as of Oct 31.
Of this, RM49.99 million came from special draws, a figure far off from the RM72.53 million collected last year and the RM113.29 million generated in 2019.
In terms of total collections from gaming activities, the RM834.46 million from 2021 pales in comparison to the RM1.72 billion brought in last year, which was already about half the RM3.44 billion collected in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic began to take hold.
Source: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2021/12/01/pandemic-factors-may-be-included-in-business-interruption-insurance/