Sars victim's family paid out

2003-06-06 12:43

Beijing - The family of a man who contracted Sars while visiting a friend in hospital and died later of the disease has received 30 000 yuan (about R29 000) in one of the first Sars-related insurance payouts in China.

The victim, surnamed Zhang, was from north China's Hebei province, said the Xinhua news agency.

The payout is the first reported for severe acute respiratory syndrome patients in Hebei, one of the worst-hit parts of China with 215 cases and 12 deaths.

Zhang was infected with the respiratory disease while visiting his friend at a hospital in nearby Tianjin municipality in mid-April and died afterwards despite treatment, the report said.

He bought a life insurance policy with the Xiongxian county branch of the People's Insurance Company of China (PICC) in 1998.

China's insurance watchdog, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), has demanded prompt payment of claims to Sars patients and their beneficiaries.

Although Sars was not included in insurance contracts because it was a new disease, CIRC in April issued a circular saying beneficiaries could file claims for losses resulting from Sars.

The CIRC demanded that insurance companies make prompt payments of claims to insurers.

Sales of health insurance have surged since Sars hit the capital and other areas in April outside Guangdong province, where it first surfaced in November, Xinhua said.

- AFX