KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — Families of passengers and crew aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 may now claim life insurance compensation even without death certificates, the Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (LIAM) said today.
The group said its 14 members will also speed up the processing of the claims aside from doing away with the requisite documentary proof of death, given that no trace has been found of the missing plane and the 239 people on board.
“Next-of-kin can file in their life insurance claims now without having to wait for the death certificate. Once the proper claimant has been identified, payment can be processed within a week,” Vincent Kwo, president of LIAM, said in a statement today.
LIAM previously revealed that 47 of the 50 Malaysians on board the flight, which authorities consider lost with no survivors, have life insurance coverage with affiliated insurers.
Today, it said six foreigners are also insured with LIAM members.
Life insurance claims are independent of the compensation that the families will get from the airlines.
Lawyers previously told The Malay Mail Online that the next of kin from the passengers of MH370 could receive up to US$175,000 (RM570,000) under the Montreal Convention on aviation-related disaster and delays.
MH370 disappeared on March 8 shortly after it departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport for Beijing on March 8 and continues to be missing despite an on-going multinational search.
