How is death claim paid if the body of an insured missing in floods is not found or identified?
There is still confusion among the general public about how to claim life insurance when a person goes missing in a landslide, flood, inundation, or other disaster but the body is not found. Section 40 of the Muluki Civil Code, 2074, clarifies the difference between being missing and being presumed dead. If there is strong evidence of death in a disaster, it may not be necessary to wait 12 years even if the body is not found.
Kathmandu. There is still confusion among the general public about how to claim life insurance when a person goes missing in a landslide, flood, inundation, road accident, plane crash, or other disaster but the body is not found.
According to prevailing law, being missing and being presumed dead are not the same thing. Section 40 of the Muluki Civil Code, 2074, provides that in normal circumstances, if a person is missing without notice for 12 consecutive years, or if a person who would naturally receive information about them has had no information for 12 years, the person is presumed dead unless proof of being alive is found. However, if there is strong basis and evidence of death in a disaster or accident, it may not be necessary to wait 12 years.
According to Subsection (1) of Section 40 of the Muluki Civil Code, 2074:
- After 12 years of being missing in normal circumstances,
- 5 years if a person who has reached 80 years of age goes missing,
- 4 years after the end of war for a soldier deployed in a battlefield,
- 3 years after the accident if a person traveling on a crashed plane, ship, or other vehicle does not come into contact,
the person is presumed dead.
Similarly, in the case of death in an accident, Subsection (2) of Section 40 has a special provision that if no proof is obtained that any of the other persons involved in the same accident survived, the concerned person is presumed to have died at the same time.
If there is strong evidence that a person died after being buried in a landslide, swept away by flood or inundation, caught in an avalanche, or caught in a major natural disaster, but the body has not been found, the family may not have to wait 12 years.
Subsection (4) of Section 40 of the Muluki Civil Code, 2074, provides that an interested person may file a petition in court for a judicial declaration that a person is missing without notice or has been caught in a disaster or accident and has died. The court may issue a judicial declaration of death after examining the facts, reasons, and basis mentioned in the petition along with necessary evidence.
The Reinsurance Directive, 2080, issued by the Nepal Insurance Authority, does not mention any provision regarding the insurance claim process in the event of a disaster or catastrophe. The Insurance Regulations and the Insurer's Claim Payment Directive, 2081, also do not make any provision in this regard.
In addition, in the event of a disaster, if the government designates a specific incident as a disaster through the Council of Ministers, some legal provisions may be relaxed for human and physical damage during that period. For example, the nearest police station provides a recommendation that a person has been missing and not found since a certain date due to a disaster. Based on such recommendation and an application by family members, if the local level issues a death registration certificate stating that the missing person is dead, the insured party can claim compensation.
In a situation where the actual condition of persons missing due to floods is not certain, there are also options to include the following provisions regarding declaring them dead and facilitating and legally recognizing the insurance claim payment process on that basis: