Nigerian insurers have said they are ready to pay N3m to the first medical casualty who died while taking care of a COVID-19 patient in fulfilment of their promise to provide free cover for medical personnel.
Some underwriters disclosed this to our correspondent after a 51-year-old medical doctor died recently of COVID-19, which he contracted from a patient he had treated.
The doctor died at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital after he was rushed to the facility.
The Chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association, Mr Tope Smart, in a telephone interview with punch news said, “We are expecting the government to give us the details of the relatives so we can immediately settle them.”
The NIA had promised to pay N3m to dependents of doctors who died while treating coronavirus patients in Nigeria.
They also assured they would pay nurses and other auxiliary workers N1m as part of the industry’s contribution to boost the medical personnel’s morale and support the government’s efforts to contain the virus spread in the country.
This was in addition to its promise to procure testing kits and protective materials for the use of medical personnel saddled with this responsibility of COVID-19 cases.
“In line with our profession as risk managers, NIA has decided to arrange a special life insurance cover for all health personnel and allied professionals who are attending to victims of COVID-19,” he said.
The NIA chairman noted that the frontline personnel were exposed to a lot of risks and as an association, it felt the need to provide cover for them against their exposures.
He said all insurance companies, the insurance brokers and the National Insurance Commission decided to come together to voluntarily support the government’s efforts.
He said as soon as the government availed the underwriters of the rightful beneficiaries, the insurers would promptly settle the N3m claim.
