A measly $20,000 insurance for a car accident; that needs fixing

Jun 07, 2015 News

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The Story within the Story
 
By Leonard Gildarie
Last week, I was highly critical of an unnamed business on Water Street, which made the news recently after

clean-up crews announced that it had found a koker located on the premises of that business. It appeared that not many even knew one was there.
My comments were made after a number of news items and a YouTube video of a prominent contractor raising concerns about the presence and state of that koker.
With the flooding last Sunday that angered many city homeowners and business folks, it was natural for me to wonder why we were all being held at ransom. Why the City Council allowed it. It appeared not to have been cleaned a long time now.
A director of Muneshwer’s, Robin Muneshwer, last week called. He wanted me to do a site visit and a retraction of my criticisms. In a letter to the editor, he said that the koker was part of the Water Street property they purchased in 1991.
Over the years, and under the City Council’s supervision, and using his own private contractor, Muneshwer said he undertook to clean it and build new walls to strengthen it.
The video showing the stuff that was in the vicinity of the koker was alarming, like so many others drainage structures we have around the country. There are so many questions around that koker, but as Mr Muneshwer is claiming, his company did their part and City Council overlooked.
Was it enough? A look at the YouTube video which Mr Muneshwer said he did not have an opportunity

to view will tell a thousand tales. I am glad we found that koker. It means another outlet for the suffering Georgetown. We have published Mr Muneshwer’s letter.
Today, as we move on, I want us to discuss a critical issue.
Thousands of passengers depend on the public transportation system to travel to work and get around the country. Taxis, minibuses, you name it.
We have thousands of cars around the country belonging to family and businesses and state agencies. We are not a country immune to road accidents. We have had many, some of them horrific, with multiple passengers dying.
In most other countries, the issue of insurance is critical. It is high. In the US, a new driver will pay a large amount that can add up to US$200 monthly for insurance.
I pay around $6-7,000 every year (about US$35). They say what you pay for is what you get.
In September 2013, I had spoken to prominent insurance broker, Bish Panday, who is leading the charge to overhaul especially the third party coverage for vehicles.
He had said back then that the time has long passed for Government to make changes to the legislation that will see passengers of minibuses and owners of vehicles being offered more protection.
The current insurance limits, as pertaining to auto coverage in case of accidents,

date back to the 1970s, said Panday of P and P Insurance Brokers.
There have been complaints of hapless passengers who died or were severely injured in vehicular accidents, and whose families received a mere “pittance” from insurance companies.
The problem, Panday explained then, lies in the current Insurance Act. While other forms of insurance exist, like the comprehensive policies, the current third party coverage has basic problems which are leaving holes in the pockets of Guyanese.
“Back in the ‘70s, if someone got into an accident, they could have received up to $20,000. That amount back then had the value of what was like US$20,000 ($4M). We can’t have people receiving $20,000 now.”
A $5,000 (premium after no claim discounts) third party insurance for a normal car will only see coverage up to $300,000. This means if a vehicle has such insurance, and the driver knocks down a pedestrian, that pedestrian can only receive up to $300,000. The same goes for a vehicle that is damaged by the insured car in an accident.
However, the owner of a motor vehicle can opt for even lower limits of coverage (and still be compliant with the law) that could cost him $1,000 to $2,000 (after discounts) annually, and see a mere $20,000 coverage.
In other words, the law makes it mandatory for an insurance policy to be taken out for vehicles, but the limit does not have to be more than $20,000.
Of course, vehicle owners have been going higher, knowing full well of the dangers of having very low limits.
“Imagine ending up in an accident costing $600,000 to repair the other person’s vehicle. Your coverage is only $300,000. That means you are in the hole for $300,000.”
The situation with public transportation like minibuses makes the state of affairs even more critical. Passengers will not receive more than $20,000-$25,000 each under most basic third party insurance.
Panday, in proposing the third party limits be raised, said that it should be somewhere in the vicinity of $500,000 for any one person and $1M for an accident, gradually increasing over a three-year period to $1.5M and $2.5M respectively.
“Yes, it will cost more, but it will also ensure that passengers and vehicles belonging to others are covered in a more meaningful manner.”
It is an area that I hope the business community will address in a speedy manner. All it requires is a few lines to be made into law and then we are on our way.
We cannot move into a first country mode unless little things like this become a matter of fact. The insurance companies also have to take a bigger role. I think some of them are too laid back, comfortable in their zone.
Come on guys, let’s take this to another level.

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