China’s insurance industry has slammed the brakes on selling low-cost policies that cover Covid-19 infections, as it tries to avoid huge payouts and disputes from an oncoming wave of cases caused by Beijing’s relaxation of strict zero-Covid policies.
Waterdrop, the largest third-party online insurance platform in China, this week shelved all policies related to Covid-19, while a popular product offered by China Continent Insurance, paying up to Rmb1,500 ($215) to policyholders testing positive for Covid, is no longer available in search listings.
Similar low-cost Covid policies offered by Alibaba- and Tencent-backed ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance and midsized Yong An Insurance have also been removed from current product offerings.