Yongin City Launches Citizen Safety Insurance Program This Month

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Choi Ki-ho] Starting this month, any Yongin citizen will receive insurance benefits of up to 20 million won from the 'Yongin Citizen Safety Insurance' when injured in natural disasters or accidents anywhere in the country.

Yongin Special City announced on the 4th that it will operate the Yongin Citizen Safety Insurance starting this month to help stabilize the lives of citizens who die or are injured in natural disasters or accidents.

Any of the 1.1 million Yongin citizens with registered addresses in the city can receive compensation without separate enrollment. This also includes foreign nationals registered with the city and overseas Koreans who have filed residence reports.

The city is expanding and implementing the citizen safety insurance program, which was discontinued in 2020, to expand the social safety net for vulnerable groups who cannot afford private insurance due to financial difficulties and foreign residents living in the city.

Coverage items include △natural disasters △social disasters △injuries △explosions, fires, collapses, and landslides △death or aftereffects from using public transportation △sexual violence crime injury compensation △injury diagnosis allowance △traffic accident injury treatment costs in school zones △traffic accident injury treatment costs in senior protection zones and 14 other categories.

In cases of death from natural disasters such as typhoons, floods, and droughts, or from social disasters such as fires and collapses, or from injuries (excluding traffic injuries), compensation of up to 20 million won is provided. However, persons under 15 years old are excluded.

When aftereffects develop for the same reasons, support ranging from 5 million won to 10 million won is provided depending on the degree of disability, regardless of age.

According to the 'Disaster and Safety Management Basic Act,' if damage of a certain scale or larger occurs from fires, collapses, explosions, traffic accidents, etc., it is classified as a 'social disaster.' To help reduce the burden of treatment costs when citizens are injured in small-scale fires, explosions, and other accidents occurring in daily life such as homes and public facilities, the city separately establishes the 'explosion, fire, collapse, and landslide' category and provides duplicate support.

The biggest difference from the citizen safety insurance the city operated three years ago is the addition of the 'injury' category, which expands coverage scope. This refers to cases where citizens die or develop aftereffects from large and small accidents that commonly occur in homes or workplaces, such as falling or dropping objects. Injury coverage is provided in duplicate with 'explosions, fires, collapses, and landslides,' but does not include traffic accidents.

However, children 12 years old and under who suffer traffic accident injuries in school protection zones and seniors 65 years old and above who suffer traffic accident injuries in senior protection zones receive up to 10 million won in treatment costs. Additionally, if they receive treatment for more than four weeks for injuries other than traffic accidents, a consolation payment of 100,000 won is provided.

The city provides compensation for injuries sustained while using public transportation, unlike general traffic accidents.

Citizens who die (15 years old and above) or develop aftereffects from accidents while using public transportation including charter buses receive up to 10 million won. Coverage applies to accidents occurring while riding, boarding or alighting, or waiting at stations.

According to the '2023 Yongin City Social Survey' conducted by the city, 35.8% of citizens use public transportation such as buses, subways, and taxis for commuting or school trips daily, so the number of eligible recipients is expected to be substantial.

Citizens who are victims of sexual violence and suffer injuries requiring treatment for more than one month also receive compensation of up to 10 million won.

Coverage extends up to three years from the date of the accident, regardless of where it occurs in the country. For claims, citizens can call the Citizen Safety Insurance integrated call center (1522-3556) for detailed guidance.

The city provides compensation regardless of other insurance policies individually purchased by citizens or disaster support payments provided by the government.

In relation to this, the city completed an operational contract for Yongin Citizen Safety Insurance with a consortium composed of five insurance companies including Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance at the end of last month. The total insurance amount is 500 million won and the operational period is one year.