Kyrgyzstan Overhauls Mandatory Housing Insurance Rules

Kyrgyzstan is updating its mandatory housing insurance regulations to better protect citizens from fires and natural disasters. President Sadyr Japarov has signed a new law that significantly expands the scope of covered events, offering broader protection for homeowners.

The revised rules now include a wider array of natural phenomena and incidents. Among the newly recognized insured events are fires and the consequences of their extinguishment, earthquakes measuring five or higher on the Richter scale, mudflows, floods, landslides, rockfalls, winds exceeding 18 meters per second, severe blizzards, hail, and lightning strikes. The law also recognizes demolition of housing by state bodies and the relocation of residents to safe zones if their homes are threatened by natural disasters as insured events.

Furthermore, the law introduces changes to deductibles, allowing them to reach up to 10 percent of the insured sum, with the exact amount determined by housing class and construction quality. It also prohibits voluntary housing insurance unless the owner possesses a mandatory insurance policy or a Takaful (Islamic insurance) contract. Voluntary coverage can now only be used to exceed the limits of mandatory insurance.

A key provision of the new law is the establishment of a unified insurance pool. All companies authorized for mandatory housing insurance must join this pool. A portion of insurance premiums will be directed to this pool to cover obligations to property owners. The sale of mandatory insurance policies will be managed through a centralized information system linked to the pool, with the cabinet of ministers set to define the operational rules, fund management, reinsurance, and emergency fund creation.