ICBF-Beema life insurance cover 'to extend to other nationalities soon'

The flagship ICBF-Beema life insurance scheme, which has been running successfully within the Indian diaspora, will soon be extended to other nationalities, a move that will greatly benefit the low-income group.This came in response to the Indian Community Benevolent Forum (ICBF), which found it challenging to market the life cover product for one particular nationality when it approached companies.The life insurance programme comes with a coverage of QR100,000 for two years at a premium of QR125. The scheme also covers permanent or partial disability up to the maximum covered amount depending on the severity of the disability."ICBF has taken the initiative to go to other communities as well," Beema chief operating officer G Hari Krishnan told media on the sidelines of the listing of Beema.ICBF is an organisation under the patronage of embassy of India, Doha, which undertakes the task of providing succour and solace to underprivileged Indians in Qatar.Highlighting that it initially started as a corporate social responsibility initiative, he said Beema wanted to design a product that is affordable for every section of the society and the ICBF took the initative to spread it among the community.He said the proposal mooted by the ICBF in extending the coverage to other nationalities made sense to Beema because in a low-cost platform, business volumes matter.On claims, which numbered more than a dozen, he said it was done without any hassles.The scheme was started in December 2019 and in a short span of time, it became popular among the Indian diaspora and people started joining in large numbers, especially in the recent past.Many Indian companies as well as Indian associations, too, conducted campaigns to get their staff enrolled in the programme to get maximum members as this is a unique programme that provides maximum benefits at a very low cost.At present, the welfare scheme has more than 30,000 live policies and the potential is large, given the size of the communities, ICBF acting president Vinod Nair told Gulf Times.Through extending the coverage to other nationalities for which it would soon start tapping major companies, he said more expatriates would come under the scheme, he said, adding it would be well received by all the sections of the society, irrespective of the nationalities."It is a win-win situation for both (ICBF and Beema),” Nair said, adding the extension would be undertaken soon as the necessary formalities have been completed from the ICBF side.