On the new portal of Rostrud, job seekers will be able to purchase insurance against dismissal, Vedomosti writes. Providing such a policy will be unprofitable for insurers, so serious companies will not work under this program, experts say.

Photo: Oleg Kharseev, Kommersant / buy photo

Rostrud will offer insurance against job loss. The agency plans to relaunch the portal for the unemployed by the end of the year. In addition to vacancies, applicants will be able to purchase voluntary dismissal insurance policies there, writes the Vedomosti newspaper. According to the publication, the service’s initiative was announced last week at a meeting of insurers and deputy head of Rostrud Maxim Parshin. Five companies were offered to provide the service. These are AlfaStrakhovanie-Life, VSK, VTB Insurance, Renaissance Life and Sberbank Insurance. For insurers, this program will be unprofitable, says Ilya Solomatin, vice president of the Ingosstrakh insurance company.

“I have little understanding of how Rostrud wants to sell this product. Because against the backdrop of events taking place in the economy, most large companies, at least in the financial sector, have announced upcoming layoffs before the end of the year. I don’t think that serious insurers can work on these programs. The product may be in demand, but from the point of view of the insurer, which is generally profit-oriented, this is a priori an unprofitable type of insurance,” Solomatin explained to Kommersant FM.

Now the risk of job loss can be included in insurance contracts that are issued when receiving loans. According to experts, in 2013, unemployment insurance collections amounted to about 11 billion rubles. Providing an independent product is too risky for the insurer, noted Igor Ivanov, Deputy General Director of the RESO-Garantiya company.

“Here there is an absolutely colossal opportunity for insurance fraud. A person understands perfectly well that layoffs are planned at the enterprise, he goes and takes out this policy. But this is not really insurance. We offer something similar in the context of cooperation with banks. If we are talking about people from the street who want to buy a policy just in case, this seems to be an extremely high risk for the insurance company. Insurance companies are not charitable societies; they cannot simply distribute money to everyone,” said Ivanov.

It is assumed that the insurance will cover the costs of staff reduction, liquidation or relocation of the company. Taking out a policy will be of interest to those who have already experienced an unexpected job loss, says Stanislav Alekseev, managing partner for Russia at Transearch International.

“Everything will depend on the price of insurance: if the prices are attractive, then those people who have already experienced difficulties due to job loss will probably be interested in this. Young people will consider it an unnecessary expense, and the older generation will welcome. The older a person gets, the more he thinks about the future and tries to provide at least minimal insurance against losses and hardships. Where it is more difficult to find a job - in the regions - this service will be most in demand,” Alekseev clarified.

According to Rostrud, in the first six months of this year, more than 700 thousand people were laid off in Russia. Of these, about 120 thousand could receive compensation under job loss insurance.

Yulia Bezrukova

“Insurance companies can’t give money to everyone.”