Taiwan's basic residential earthquake insurance scheme had a coverage of 38.6% as of 31 July 2024, based on 9.32m households islandwide, indicating that more than 60% of homeowners are still uninsured.
This is despite Taiwan being an earthquake-prone territory. The latest quakes took place off the coast of Hualien on 16 August and Yilan on 17 August and were felt across Taiwan. Meanwhile, Taiwan is marking the 25th anniversary of the 1999 earthquake this week. The M-7.6 quake was one of the worst natural disasters to hit the island, claiming 2,400 fatalities.
Construction costs to increase
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Non-Life Insurance Association (NLIA) has revised the "Residential Construction Cost Reference Table in Taiwan", increasing the construction-cost factor in residential property insurance and natural disaster insurance branches, starting in January 2025. The NLIA said that while the insurance coverage for residential property insurance will increase, the premium will not. For natural disaster insurance, the premium will be raised slightly based on the insured amount.
The association said that the insured amount for residential fire insurance and natural disaster insurance must be calculated appropriately to avoid underinsurance.
The Taiwan Residential Earthquake Insurance Fund was established following the 1999 earthquake. The fund started operations in 2022 to provide basic earthquake coverage.