China Re Life Responds to the Sinking of “Oriental Star”

　　On the night of June 1, 2015, “Oriental Star”, a cruise ship owned by Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corporation bound for Chongqing from Nanjing, was sailing on the Yangtze River in Jianli County, Hubei Province with 458 passengers on board when it capsized and sank. Shortly after the disaster had occurred, China Re Life called a meeting to make plans for emergency response and required all departments and branches to work with insurance companies, with a strong sense of social responsibility and respect for people’s lives and property, on claim settlement and disaster relief and to provide direct insurers with fast and efficient reinsurance services. The company decided to launch Level II major emergency response in light of the heavy casualties, large number of people involved, and huge social impacts created by the disaster.

　　In line with its contingency plan, the company immediately established an emergency response leadership group, drew up an emergency response plan which makes clear the responsibility of every person concerned, and required all departments and branches to collaborate closely on emergency response. First, main business establishments are required to take the initiative to communicate with clients, follow rescue efforts closely, gather information about the losses incurred, long-term impacts, and the needs of insurance companies in a timely manner, and adjust the response plan according to the rescue progress. Second, the response efforts will be made in the principle of “handling special cases in special ways and dealing with urgent cases first” as required by China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC). China Re Life will launch a fast claim settlement process to address clients’ needs, give full support to the simplified claim settlement process adopted by insurance companies for the emergency, and handle all inquiries and conclusions about claim settlement as fast as it can, to share the burden of direct insurers and provide strong reinsurance support for the industry’s emergency response efforts. Third, claim settlement personnel will be reachable on the phone 24 hours a day to ensure smooth communication between insurance companies and China Re Life, and the timely delivery of claim settlement services. If necessary, staff members of China Re Life will assist in claim settlement on site. Fourth, a smooth communication mechanism will be established to report to the regulatory authority in a timely manner about the progress in emergency response.