Well, you should know this story that appear in www.thestar.com.my/opinion
Baffled by insurance coverage rule
There seems to be some confusion in how our insurance companies operate insofar as car insurance is concerned. Please, can anyone spell out the real situation?
Here is my dilemma: A few months ago, a car knocked into mine. The driver admitted to causing the accident due to his negligence. He told me not to worry as he had comprehensive insurance and his insurers would pay for all the repairs to my car.
My car was quite badly damaged, especially the front of the vehicle.
It was towed to a workshop which was on the panel of workshops of the insurance company. That was when my nightmare started.
At the workshop, the foreman informed me that my car was more than 10 years old, and according to Bank Negara’s directive, it could only be reimbursed 60% of the insured value.
Is this true? It does not make sense to pay for insurance coverage at the market value of, say, RM36,000 when, if the car is involved in an accident, the owner can only claim 60% of this amount, meaning RM21,600 maximum, if the vehicle is more than 10 years old!
Could the car be insured at 60% of the market value (RM21,600) then, and the owner pays insurance coverage for that amount? How can you make a person pay insurance at market value of his car (RM36,000) but when it comes to reimbursement, you restrict him to only 60% of the sum he paid?
The foreman told me that in order for them to repair my car with new parts, I had to pay the difference between what the insurance company (the one that covered the driver who knocked into me) is paying (60% of insured value) and the actual cost to repair the car.
I refused and now my car has been in the workshop for almost four months!
Every time I visit the workshop, the foreman tells me it is difficult to find spare parts from the kereta-potong garages.
In fact, I had requested for a total write-off of my car and to be given the 60% of the insured sum. But here was another disappointment. The workshop’s foreman told me that the insurance company refused this option.
So, it seems, as a consumer, I am at a total loss. I haven’t been able to use the car for the last four months (and God knows how long more I have to wait), and in the end, even if I get it back, it will be hardly worth its weight in scrap metal, seeing that every part was replaced by spares from the junkyard.
Bank Negara, if this is the true situation in the car insurance industry, it is high time we make changes to benefit the consumers.
If there is any organisation or body out there who is willing to take up my case, I’ll be more than happy to take up the offer.
MORE THAN FRUSTRATED
Puchong
