By MUCHIRI KARANJA Posted Friday, January 29 2010 at 20:27
Careless drivers will be penalised under the new motor vehicle insurance underwriting guidelines.
Under the rules that are to come into effect on March 1, drivers who cause road accidents will be required to pay double the insurance premiums that careful drivers will pay.
According to the Insurance Regulatory Authority, the new rules require that owners seeking insurance for their vehicles disclose their motoring history.
Insurance companies will first assess the accident risk exposure of individual motorists before agreeing to cover their vehicles.
Inexperienced drivers as well as those who have been involved in accidents in the past will be rated as high risk and charged higher premiums.
On the other hand, experienced drivers who have a clean driving record will get up to 50 per cent discount on the payments under the No Claim Bonus guidelines.
This means that matatu owners will need to vet their drivers more carefully and employ only the best in order to qualify for lower insurance premiums.
According to the Insurance Regulatory Authority, the new guidelines will go a long way in restoring sanity on Kenyan roads.
“This is meant to reward good drivers and penalise careless drivers,” said authority boss Sammy Makove.
Welcoming the new rules, economic secretary Geoffrey Mwau said the current system, where all motorists pay the same rates for motor vehicle insurance, had failed to reflect specific risk exposures faced by insurance companies.
At the same time, the insurance regulator has assured motorists that Invesco Assurance, which was recently bought by matatu owners, is back on its feet.
Attributing the collapse of the insurance company to bad management of claims, Mr Makove said the new owners had a better understanding of motor vehicle insurance risks. “We do not see any reason for fear,” he said.
Source: Daily NATION
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