A controversial insurance policy that will protect "good Samaritans" from being sued by elderly people was recently launched in China, news portal cnr.cn reported on Thursday.
Alipay, a massively popular third-party online payment platform in China launched its "Support the Elderly" insurance policy in October, offering financial support and legal aid for people sued for compensation by elderly people who blackmail them following accidents in which they are not at fault.
In China, there have been several instances in recent years in which people who helped the victims of accidents were then sued by the victims. Often the blackmailer will claim that the person would only have helped them if they were responsible for the accident.
Individuals need to pay 3 yuan ($0.5) a year for the insurance, which covers legal fees of up to 20,000 yuan if the person becomes embroiled in a so-called good Samaritan court case. The insurance company also provides free legal consultation for its clients.
Alipay users in 26 cities - including Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing - can purchase the policy online. A total of 26,000 such policies were sold in the first three days after its launch, of which 24,000 were bought by young users, according to Xinhua.
"The insurance will make good Samaritans feel reassured, which may aid the spread of virtue and positive energy in society," a customer that has bought the policy was quoted by cnr.cn as saying.
"A series of 'good Samaritan' extortion cases have damaged the trust between people, scaring would-be good Samaritans," Tan Qiugui, a law professor at Beijing's Minzu University of China told the Global Times earlier.
A total of 149 good Samaritan cases occurred in the first nine months of 2015, of which 84 cases were later exposed as cases of extortion. Most blackmailers were not severely punished by the authorities for their extortion, the cnr.cn reported.
