Insurance Scheme for Coir Workers

Coir Board has been implementing various welfare programs for the benefits of coir workers engaged in the coir industry. One among such is 'Welfare Measures-Coir Workers Group Personal Accident Insurance' scheme aims at providing financial compensation to disabled or deceased coir workers. In this article, we look at the Insurance Scheme for Coir Workers in detail.

Background

The workers engaged in coir processing with the aid of machinery and equipment are liable to suffer from minor or major accidents from the worksite. In view of this challenge, the Insurance Scheme for Coir Workers was initiated to provide insurance coverage against accidental death, permanent partial disability and permanent total disability to the coir workers in all coir producing states in India. Under this scheme, the entire insurance premium will be paid by the Coir Board every year to the respective insurance company. The insurance company grants financial compensation to the disabled coir workers or nominee of the disabled or deceased coir workers.

Objectives of the Scheme

The objectives of the scheme are given below:

To lessen the hardships of workers and to improvise their living and working conditions.
To obtain better productivity and employment generation through welfare measures scheme.
To attract the younger generation to the coir industry, thereby creating new employment opportunities for them.

Eligibility Criteria

The following are the eligibility criteria required to participate under the scheme:

The applicant should be the disabled coir worker or the nominee of the disabled or deceased coir worker.
The coir workers engaged in the industry whose age is from 18 years and above are eligible to apply for this scheme.

Note: Considering the welfare of the women, the coir board will include the additional facilitates such as death and disablement arising out of and traceable to sterilization and consequent complications arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, caesarean hysterectomy, removal of the breast as well as murder and rape etc.

Exclusions

The insurance cover will not be applicable under the following cases:

Normal or natural death.
Death due to any disease.
Death not traceable to or linked to any accident.
Self - injury, suicide or attempted suicide.
Performing any crime of law with criminal intent.
Venereal disease or insanity.
Impact of alcoholic drinks or drugs.
War and allied perils
Nuclear explosion.

Compensation Payable under the Scheme

The compensation payable under this scheme are listed below in the tabular column:

Particulars	Scale of Assistance
Accidental Death	Rs.50,000
Permanent Total Disability Loss of two limbs or two eyes Loss of one limb and one eye	Rs.50,000 Rs.50,000
Permanent Partial Disability Loss of one limb or one eye Provision for a finger cut	Rs.25,000 Based upon the finger and limited to applicable percentages of the capital sum.

Premium

The full amount of premium to the Insurance company will be paid by the Coir Board on behalf of the four lakhs coir workers.

Documents Required

The following are the documents required to be submitted while applying for the scheme: In case of Accidental Death

Copy of Death certificate of the deceased person
Copy of police report or FIR.
Copy of Post-Mortem report if required
Copy of certificate issued by the Coir society, unit, establishment, nominated an officer of coir board.

In the case of Permanent Total Disability (PTD)

Copy of Police report or FIR.
Copy of disability certificate from a registered medical practitioner.
Copy of certificate issued by the Coir society, unit, establishment, nominated an officer of coir board.

In the case of Permanent Partial Disability (PPD)

Copy of Police report or FIR.
Copy of disability certificate from a registered medical practitioner.
Copy of certificate issued by the Coir society, unit, establishment, nominated an officer of coir board.

Submission of Claim

To apply for claim under the insurance scheme, follow the procedure specified below:

Immediate written notice of claim should be given to the Insurance company through Coir Board along with the particulars.
In case of death, notice should be given before internment/cremation within one month from the death.
In case of loss of sight or amputation of limbs, claim notice should be provided within one month from the loss of sight or loss of a limb.
In the case of permanent total or partial disablement and temporary total disablement claims, the insured persons are required to obtain a claim form along with the Doctor's certificate, medical bills, diagnostic reports, like x-rays, etc. to prove the extent of accidental injuries occurred.
In case of any interpretation required from the insurance company, the underwriting office should ensure the insured examined by a surgeon or Physician on the Company's panel and settlement of such claims will be processed based on that report submitted.
The specified capital sum insured is payable only in the event of death occurs by accident, i.e. within 12 months from the date of occurrence of the event but not necessarily instantaneous death in such case the incident should be investigated appropriately or verified as to the proximate cause of death.
This time limit of 12 months is enforced to prevent belated claim as per the policy and for which renewal had been refused for several years earlier. It has to be ensured that the accident must occur during the operational period of the policy.
In case of fatal claims, the nominee of the insured's person or legal heir should be asked to submit the post-mortem report and the original copy of the death certificate to the insurance company.
The concerned person should make sure that death had occurred solely due to the accident. Also, the concerned officials should satisfy about the identity of the nominee. The legal heirs will have to furnish evidence of their titles such as probate, succession certificate or letters of administration.

Note: The scheme, as mentioned above, will be administered as per the standard specified by the Insurance Company.

Settlement of Claim

On receipt of the claim with required documents from the authorized officer of the Coir Board in the Head Office, the claim will be settled by the insurance company. The compensation received from the Insurance Company will be forwarded to the Beneficiary's address under intimation to the authorized officer of the Board.