P9-M insurance benefits await OFWs from Korea

MANILA, Philippines - Over P9 million in insurance benefits await overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from South Korea.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said Filipinos who worked under Korea’s Employment Permit System (EPS) and have already returned to the country can avail themselves of the benefits.

Based on the report from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Filipino workers from South Korea have yet to claim some P9.309 million in insurance benefits.

According to POEA chief Hans Cacdac, OFWs who have worked under the EPS are entitled to two categories of insurance – Departure Expense Insurance and Emigration Expiry Insurance.

The emigration expiry insurance is paid by a Korean employer to an insurance company for severance allowance of a foreigner employed in South Korea. The departure expense insurance is paid by the employer for the worker’s departure expenses.

Baldoz said Korea’s Human Resources Development Service director general Jeong Eun-Hee sought the POEA’s help in locating the OFW-claimants after the HRDS encountered difficulty in contacting them in the Philippines.

Jeong Eun-Hee informed the POEA that as November 2011, there were 453 OFWs under the EPS who had not claimed their insurance.

Baldoz said qualified workers under the EPS must visit www.hrdkoreaph.com and check their name on the unclaimed insurance list before they can fill out their application and upload the requirements.

Korea’s EPS Center will transfer the application forms to the head office, after which the insurance company in South Korea will verify the requirements before remitting the money to the applicant’s bank account.

To submit the requirements through the website, a claimant needs to join as a member and then log in; look for the icon for unclaimed insurance and click; follow the guidelines and fill out the application form and attach the requirements; and submit.

The receiving period for the claims is four to six weeks from the application date.