Families to get full insurance payouts

Families of passengers on MH370 will receive full payouts from insurers even if hijacking or terrorism led to the loss of the plane, industry analysts said on Monday.

Zhu Min, general manger of the clients' rights protection department of New China Life Insurance Co Ltd, said insurers are required to pay the families of policyholders on board - as they were not responsible for the tragedy.

Regarding the possibility of a hijacking, he said that policyholders suffered unexpected actions or events caused by an external force, which should be covered by insurers. 

The airplane is covered by the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air and, according to the convention, the airline and their insurers could be liable for payments of $160,000 per passenger.

Hao Yansu, dean of the School of Insurance at the Central University of Finance and Economics, said that if the accident turns out to be a terrorist attack, some travel insurance policies may not apply.

But he added that "the families of those who purchased life or accident policies would get compensation in any circumstances." 

China's major insurers said that most of the Chinese passengers on the plane had purchased accident or life insurance policies, and industry analysts estimated that the payments could total around 50 million yuan.