"Citizen Safety Insurance, What Is It?"... Everyone Is Enrolled but Compensation Cases Are Low

Insurance Available to All Citizens
59 Seoul Residents Compensated from January to August This Year
Low Compensation Cases Also Observed in Six Major Metropolitan Cities

Mr. Lee, who lives in Ulsan, received a deduction of 200,000 KRW from the medical expenses he incurred after visiting the emergency room due to a dog bite accident last July. This was thanks to the "Citizen Safety Insurance" subscribed to by the local government. Although each local government subscribes to citizen safety insurance to protect citizens who suffer from safety accidents, the number of compensation cases is low, leading to calls for more proactive administration to ensure the original purpose of the introduction is not undermined.

Citizen Safety Insurance is an insurance system that local governments autonomously contract with insurance companies or mutual aid associations to compensate for physical injuries of city and provincial residents caused by various disasters and accidents. Since Nonsan City in Chungnam first introduced it in 2015, it has expanded nationwide, and as of this year, 243 local governments (including metropolitan and basic) have subscribed. It is a free insurance provided by the local government where the resident is registered, and insurance claims can be made up to three years from the date of the accident. Citizens who have suffered an accident can contact the Citizen Safety Insurance Counseling Center and submit the claim form and necessary documents according to each compensation type.

The coverage items vary by local government. For example, Seoul City covers death from natural disasters, death and aftereffects from fire and explosion, death and aftereffects from public transportation accidents, and treatment costs for injuries from traffic accidents in school zones and silver zones this year. Busan and Daegu have the same coverage items such as natural disasters, fire, explosion, collapse, public transportation, and school zones, but Busan covers social disasters and infectious diseases, while Daegu covers assault injuries, silver zones, and chartered bus items. Some rural areas also cover injuries from agricultural machinery accidents.

However, despite the good intentions, the number of compensation cases is minimal. The number of compensation cases for Seoul Citizen Safety Insurance was 44 in 2020, 75 in 2021, and 78 last year. From January to August this year, it remained in double digits at 59 cases. During the same period, Ulsan (51 cases), Busan (35 cases), Gwangju (61 cases), Daegu (46 cases), and Daejeon (21 cases) showed similar levels. In Incheon, the number of compensation cases increased last year due to coverage of 'dog bite emergency room treatment costs,' recording 139 cases, the only metropolitan city with triple digits.

In particular, when comparing the number of compensation cases by accident type in Citizen Safety Insurance with the actual number of incidents and accidents, there is a clear difference. According to Seoul City traffic accident statistics, in 2021 alone, there were 1,793 injured related to Seoul city bus accidents, but from 2020 to this year, only 109 cases were compensated for traffic injuries (aftereffects) while using public transportation. In Busan, 14 compensations were made last year for school zone injuries, but according to the Road Traffic Authority, during this period, 46 children under 12 years old were injured in traffic accidents within school zones in Busan.

Local governments have implemented various promotional policies, such as distributing and placing notices at government offices or requesting advertising cooperation on public transportation. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety also signed a business agreement with KakaoPay to allow checking coverage items, coverage amounts, and claim methods of Citizen Safety Insurance through the KakaoTalk app. However, awareness of Citizen Safety Insurance remains low. Mr. Kim Cheol-yong (pseudonym, male), in his 70s living in Songpa-gu, Seoul, said, "My sister-in-law sent me a text message about Citizen Safety Insurance, but when I told people around me, they said it might be a scam." In Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province, although they subscribed to Citizen Safety Insurance in 2018, they suspended operations from March 2020 due to low compensation cases. A Yongin City official said, "Applications were few in the early days, so we temporarily suspended it to evaluate its effectiveness," adding, "We plan to redesign the coverage items so that more citizens can receive compensation and resume operations from next year."

Information on Seoul Citizen Safety Insurance provided by the KakaoTalk app / Photo by KakaoTalk capture

Accordingly, since insurance premiums are paid from local government budgets, there are opinions that system improvements are needed so that more citizens can benefit. In fact, Seoul City's Citizen Safety Insurance subscription amount increased from 867 million KRW in 2020 to 2.104 billion KRW this year. This was due to the addition of natural disaster death coverage last year and social disaster coverage this year. Busan also tripled its subscription amount from 247.35 million KRW last year to 759.23 million KRW this year by adding coverage for deaths from infectious diseases such as COVID-19. Professor Lee Ju-yeol of the Department of Health Administration at Namseoul University said, "Promotion is important, but it is also necessary to establish an institutional framework that automatically searches for Citizen Safety Insurance or allows insurance claims when visiting hospitals or receiving treatment."