Anyone who becomes unable to work due to a corona illness may not be able to receive any benefits from their BU insurer. This emerges from an analysis by the consulting firm PremiumCircle, which the World on Sunday (WamS) is present. Of 59 insurers asked, only seven replied.
According to the report, the insurers have only received a few applications so far, but the expected scope is enormous. Carmen disc arch, Professor at the Berlin Charité and an expert on Long-Covid, therefore assumes, at the request of the newspaper, that around every hundredth sick person will develop this symptom. Most of those affected are no longer able to work full-time. Patients with mental or other physical damage would then be added.
With the number of applicants, however, the rejections from the disability insurers are likely to reach a significantly new level in Germany: “Whether or not an occupational disability is recognized has always been a gamble – and with the corona pandemic it will become even more severe,” will Claus-Dieter Gorr, CEO of PremiumCircle, quoted.
According to the report, insurers still have one or the other loophole. An example: If a customer has traveled to a corona risk area, this applies as a possible exclusion criterion for payments. Because this could be seen as “deliberate induction of occupational disability”, reports the Jerkin further.
The home office could also become a problem for employees: Six of the seven insurers stated that they would refuse payments for posture damage caused by working from home. Because working in the home office is not the “usual activity” for which the insured had originally concluded their contracts, it continues.
The official line of the General Association of the German Insurance Industry (GDV) has so far been different: “Both when taking out occupational disability insurance and when checking benefits, Covid-19 is subject to the usual requirements of the respective insurer. These are set individually by each insurer, ”emphasized GDV General Manager Jörg Asmussen Beginning of April 2021.
The GDV explains that it is irrelevant what the cause of a health problem is. Covid 19 disease does not play a special role in this regard. As a rule, the vaccination status also plays, e.g. B. in relation to flu vaccinations or basic immunization, no role in the health check. This “also applies to vaccinations against Covid-19”.
A Covid-19 illness does not lead to freedom from benefits. “If there is a conditional disability, the insurance pays. The reasons for the incapacity to work do not play a role. If someone becomes unable to work due to the consequences of a Covid-19 disease or the consequences of a vaccination against Covid-19, the insurance pays ”, explained Asmussen.
Author: VW editorial team
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