Recently, the Taichung City Government passed the “Taichung City Mountain Activities Management Self-Government Ordinance.” In the future, aside from requiring mountaineering insurance for climbing, if a mountain accident occurs, the city government may charge citizens for search and rescue expenses beyond what the insurance covers. However, property insurance providers noted that there are exceptions to the claims criteria—climbing without permission means no payout, even if you have mountaineering insurance.
Mountain insurance has been on sale since May 2014. Since the law does not mandate that climbers must purchase such insurance, sales have remained modest. Currently, about seven property insurance companies offer mountain insurance. The Insurance Association of Taiwan stated that Fubon Insurance likely sells the most mountain insurance policies, while other insurers sell very few.
Fubon Insurance stated that through risk awareness campaigns, the sales of mountain insurance have shown a year-on-year growth trend. In the first five months of this year, the cumulative number of policies sold was approximately 500, with premiums totaling around NT$1 million. Compared to the same period last year, when the signed premium was about NT$660,000, although the number of policies sold and the number of insured individuals remain low, the growth rate has reached 51%.
Property insurance providers said that under the Taichung City Government’s “Taichung City Mountain Activities Management Self-Government Ordinance,” once it is approved by the Taichung City Council in the future, when entering specially regulated mountain areas, team members or leaders must possess emergency rescue capabilities. Entering mountains during typhoons will be prohibited. Otherwise, in the event of a mountain accident, the Taichung City Government may charge citizens for search and rescue expenses beyond what the insurance covers. Additionally, climbers must definitely purchase comprehensive mountaineering insurance.
However, property insurance providers also noted that if permission is required but not obtained, or if the incident occurs in a warning zone restricted or prohibited from entry under the Disaster Prevention and Rescue Act, or in other officially announced no-entry zones, the resulting emergency rescue costs—even if the climber has mountaineering insurance—are not covered. These costs will still have to be borne by the climber.
Furthermore, regarding the currently available “comprehensive mountaineering insurance” in Taiwan, Cathay Life Insurance stated that comprehensive mountaineering insurance only covers activities within the territory of the Republic of China—that is, Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and areas under government jurisdiction. If you plan to climb high mountains overseas (including mainland China), this type of mountaineering insurance does not apply.
Cathay Life Insurance pointed out that the coverage of mountaineering insurance includes accidental injury incidents occurring during mountain climbing activities, or search, medical transport, and body transfer expenses necessitated by mountain accidents. The insured group consists of participants in mountain climbing activities, specifically groups with five or more members. If the number of insured individuals is fewer than five, insurance cannot be purchased.