Pakistan has no public disaster insurance plan

Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Insurance Division Director Waseem Khan said on Tuesday Pakistan has no public programme for disaster insurance even though it ranks fifth on the list of countries that are most vulnerable to disaster. Speaking at a news briefing ahead of the International Insure­Impact Conference to be held on Dec 13 and 14, Mr Khan said the government should consider ways to disburse disaster-related allocations through a disaster risk insurance mechanism as opposed to one-off budgetary expenses to make the system self-sustaining. There are 42 insurance companies in Pakistan, with a total premium of Rs553 billion and 10 million active policies. Insurance penetration, which is premiums as a percentage of GDP, is only 0.87 per cent in Pakistan. The premium per person amounts to only Rs2,776. About 68pc of total premiums collected by insurance companies fall in the life insurance category.