DRIVERS frozen out by insurance companies will now get a chance to secure cover in an effort to stem the growing number of people driving without car insurance.
Under new rules, the Joint Insurance Company and the Insurance Registrar will issue cover to those individuals refused insurance by at least three insurance companies.
Loucas Charalambous of the Joint Insurance Company yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that those unable to obtain car insurance from private companies tended to be foreigners or elderly people with a record of reckless driving.
Charalambous said they had been pushed by the government to find a way to issue insurance to people systematically turned away by companies.
“There is a certain procedure individuals must go through. First they must attempt to gain insurance from a private company. If one company refuses to give them coverage, they must go to a second and a third. Then they must apply to the Motor Insurance Fund for insurance,” said Charalambous.
He said the reason they had decided drivers would have to go to three insurance companies before coming to them was to ensure the system was not abused. “We do not want people simply to take advantage of our new service or take clients away from insurance companies.”
The Motor Insurance Fund will then check the driver’s history and speak to the insurance companies who refused to issue the individual coverage.
“They would also ring around other insurance companies to ask if they would be willing to give the individual insurance. If not, then we will be there as a last resort,” said Charalambous.
“The procedure is extremely fast, as the individual will fill in an application and we will reply to them via e-mail within 24 hours,” said Charalambous.
He said once an individual had been rejected by three companies, the Joint Insurance Company would be obliged to issue insurance, no matter what their history of driving.
“As long as the driver has a licence we cannot refuse them insurance. In the final analysis, if the companies are hesitant to cover a certain person we will have no choice but to give them coverage,” said Charalambous.
If a person has a track record of accidents, but has a driving licence the Joint Insurance Company will still have to issue them with insurance. “If an 80-year-old with a valid driving licence who has been refused coverage from other companies comes to us, we must give it to them,” said Charalambous.
The plan has been under consideration since the beginning of last year, said Charalambous.
“The new system will be in place in the next few days. We are informing insurance companies of the changes,” said Charalambous.
He added that when uninsured drivers had accidents, it was the Joint Insurance Company that ended up paying for damage sustained by the other vehicle.
“People were not paying insurance and since we give money to all the 25 insurance companies in Cyprus, we were paying out, which is absurd,” said Charalambous.
