Govt Prioritizes Insurance Claim Relief for Flood-Hit Businesses in First Phase of Recovery plan

Kathmandu — The government will introduce special measures to speed up insurance claim settlements and help flood- and disaster-affected businesses resume operations.

The Ministry of Finance’s Business Recovery Plan — Phase I has made insurance claims and compensation a priority for providing relief to affected enterprises.

Under the plan, surveyors will be deployed through a simplified process to assess damage. The arrangement is intended to accelerate evaluation of losses to business premises and property caused by disasters.

The plan also allows advance claim payments of up to 50 percent on the basis of preliminary assessments. This will enable businesses that have suffered major losses to access funds before the final assessment and full claims process are completed.

In addition, the government will promptly formulate and implement simplified claim-settlement procedures aimed at making the process shorter, simpler and more effective.

According to the plan published by the Ministry of Finance, the insurance-related measures will be implemented in coordination with the Nepal Insurance Authority.

Other relief measures

The first phase of the Business Recovery Plan also includes tax and customs-duty exemptions, loan and interest concessions, and other financial support.

Through Nepal Rastra Bank, the plan proposes loans at concessional rates (base rate plus 0.5 percentage points) for up to three years, along with restructuring and rescheduling of loans held by flood-affected borrowers.

It further provides customs-duty exemptions on the import of vehicles, transport equipment, plant, machinery, tools and equipment, as well as various tax concessions for businesses whose assets have been damaged.

The combination of advance payments of up to 50 percent based on preliminary assessments and simplified claim procedures is expected to be one of the key relief measures for businesses hit by the disaster.