Covid-19 had taken a toll on the whole world. Every country and its respective governments are doing their best to combat with the Coronavirus.  However, a developing country like India is surfing the most.  For 21 days, India has been put under lockdown, which means people are not allowed to work, travel, go out, party, or be a part of any social gathering.  The lockdown has been especially announced so that people are able to socially distance themselves and prevent the spread of the deadly virus. Every sector is facing its own difficulties to tackle the problem.

Everyone is suffering in the chaos of the virus, but the most affected are the people who have lost their dear and near ones. It is important for the country and its people to support these families during these harsh times. These families have come forward to claim money from Insurance Companies to pay them according to insurance agreements under the name of the deceased. 

Under such circumstances, when the whole country is not allowed to move, it has become necessarythat the government comes up with new schemes and policies so that people can adjust to such changes.  One such major step is taken by the Life Insurance Companies with the help of the life Insurance council.

Life Insurance Council is a body that connects the various stakeholders of the sector. It develops and coordinates all discussions and matters between the Government, Regulatory Board and the Public. In simple words, it is the face of the Life Insurance industry.

The life insurance companies under the guidance of life insurance council havedeclared that it will process all the coronavirus related claims as soon as possible. Furthermore, this decision implies not only on the public sector but on the private sector as well. It is very well understood that during such hard times there might be families who lost their bread earner or sole way of income and therefore to safeguard the interest of such families the insurance companies decided to not consider Covid-19 death claims as “force majeure” and removed the clause of force majeure from such contracts, temporally. According to a press release from the life insurance council, the council confirmed that this step was taken to reassure customers who had reached out to individual life insurance companies seeking clarity on this clause in their contract as well as to dispel rumours to the contrary. All life insurance companies have also communicated to their customers individually in this regard."

In common language, a force majeure clause is included in the agreement to avoid obligations or responsibilities which might arise in the future due to the contractual relationship. When a force majeure clause is invoked in a contract, it means that the main event of the contract is impossible to perform, and thus the contract becomes null or void in the eyes of the law. Force majeure events include an Act of God or natural disasters, war or war-like situations, labour unrest or strikes, epidemics, pandemics, etc. As the insurance companies have decided not to consider covid-19 deaths under force majeure, it means they are not avoiding any obligations and are not invoking the force majeure clause, thus making it null or void.

As per Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance's strategy wordings, "in case of any force majeure or fiasco that influences the typical working of the organization and during the continuation of the power majeure occasions, all solicitation for overhauling the arrangement including approach related installment will be kept in suspension." This implies life safety net provider can incidentally suspend the cases in the occasions, for example, common catastrophes, strikes, war, common distress, riots and bandhs.

However, in any case, as indicated by the most recent public statement from the Life Insurance Council, it expresses that force majeure on account of COVID-19 won't matter. Secretary-General, Life Insurance Council, stated, "The spiraling worldwide and nearby effect of COVID-19 pandemic has stressed the major requirement for life coverage in each family unit. The life coverage industry is taking each measure to guarantee that the disturbance caused to policyholders, because of the lockdown is insignificant, by giving them continuous help carefully, be it for respecting demise claims identified with COVID-19 or for overhauling their arrangement. We repeat that all life coverage organizations remain by their clients in these troublesome occasions, and the client ought not to be influenced by deception or distortion."

Apart from all the above-mentioned measures, theInsurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has also decided to provide additional time for payments related to renewal premium in case of health insurance policies and motor third party insurance. The IRDAI decided to provide 30 days grace period for such payments as directed by the life insurers and the insurance council.

Such decisions taken by the government will always be remembered by the people. In these challenging times, it is essential that not only the public but also the private sectors take such initiatives. The Life Insurance Council is now entitled to protect and safeguard the interest of those families who lost their loved ones in the battle of COVID-19. In the long run such steps taken will attract the general public to invest in such policies for future gains.