Insurance companies to compensate families of helicopter crash victims

The Bell 505 helicopter carrying four passengers and one pilot that crashed near Ha Long Bay last week was insured by PVI Insurance (the main insurer), Bao Viet Holdings and the Military Insurance Corp, VnExpress has learned.

The operating company Vietnam Helicopters bought three insurance policies: insurance for the legal responsibility of the company with passengers, insurance for the helicopter, and insurance for the pilot.

The family of pilot Chu Quang Minh will receive $200,000, and so far $50,000 has been transferred. They will get the rest of the coverage when all the procedures are completed.

The coverage of passengers, however, will be more complicated, as insurers only have an indirect responsibility to pay the families.

This means that the responsibility of Vietnam Helicopters in the accident will need to be determined first before insurers can pay the families on behalf of the company.

The legal cap of coverage for a deceased passenger is at around VND4 billion in Vietnam.

Vietnam Helicopters will also need to pay for the families for other expenses such as the search and rescue mission and the returning of the bodies to their hometown.

The specifics will have to be negotiated by the company and the families, and this process could take time.