Nanjing is the size of the US state of Delaware and the large majority of the the city’s land is countryside. Yet, it has taken until now for there to be realised what is the first-ever insurance claim for a wildlife “accident” in Jiangsu Province.
Zhang Yongguo, a tea farmer in Jiangpu Sub District of Pukou District in Nanjing, is the lucky recipient of the claim. On Wednesday of this week, 13 April, he received the insurance claim payout totaling ¥49,800.
Speaking with The Paper, Zhang revealed that his six-plus hectares of tea plantation near Lao Shan is often “harassed” by wild boars coming down from the mountain to look for food.
At the end of March, the boars wreaked particular damage on the plantation, resulting in damage to many tea seedlings that then had to be replanted.
According to incomplete statistics, the residents of Pukou District suffered approximately ¥3 million in financial losses from such incidents involving wildlife in 2021.
Hence, the Jiangsu Provincial Government took the lead in launching a commercial rescue insurance mechanism for wildlife-related incidents in March of this year, in cooperation with Nanjing PICC Property Insurance and Nanjing China Property Insurance.
The premium is funded by the government and potential beneficiaries include both the permanent and floating population.
Compenasation for personal injury and disability is capped at ¥200,000 per person per claim, while that for loss to property and medical expenses is ¥50,000.
Wu Chaoran, Manager of the Agricultural Insurance Business Department of PICC Pukou Branch, said that Zhang would have probably had to shell out more like ¥100,000 on new seedlings, fertiliser and labour after the boar-inflicted damage. While Zhang received the maximum payout available, the excess of ¥200 on the policy meant his total compensation became ¥49,800.
The insurance scheme covers damage inflicted by not only boars, but also hares, pheasants, deer, badgers and snakes. It is understood that several of Nanjing’s other rural districts, namely Lishui, Qixia and Liuhe, plan to follow suit with the initiative.
