DEPUTIES yesterday warned the public of future increases in car insurance premiums, after a harmonising bill was submitted to Parliament to alter existing laws.
At the moment, insurance companies are expected to cover a minimum of £60,000 for material damages in the event of an accident.
According to the EU directive, which all member-states must implement by June 11, this amount will increase to £600,000 (1 million euro).
“We have no choice but to implement it,” DIKO deputy and vice chairman of the House Finance Committee, Nicolas Papadopoulos explained. “This will mean an increase in insurance premiums, but at the moment we can’t predict what the charges will be and when they will increase,” he added.
The bill will also bring significant changes in laws regarding compensation pay-outs to those who suffered injuries during road accidents.
As the law stands at the moment, insurance companies must cover up to £2 million in compensation for each person injured during a car accident.
The new bill proposes to increase this amount to a minimum of 30 million euro to cover all injuries suffered during an accident. And where the law only covered those who were injured in motor vehicles, it will soon cover pedestrians and cyclists or any other road user.
During yesterday’s House Finance Committee, Insurance Registrar Victoria Natar said the bill had been examined by the Insurance Companies Association and the Insurance Advisory Committee, who commonly agreed on the amount increasing to 30 million euro.
Other proposed amendments will see the Auditor-general employed as the authority in charge of paying out compensations to those who suffered damages from government vehicles, which are exempt from having third party insurance.
Also, the Road Transport Department will be in charge of offering information to those implicated in a traffic accident.
The proposed amendment will make it obligatory to have insurance cover based on a singular insurance policy for the whole of Europe, while the term “any person” who is injured or killed during an accident includes pedestrians, cyclists and other road users, and not just the car’s passengers.
A further regulation will be added, so that a passenger’s compensation does not depend on whether he knew the driver was drunk when an accident took place.
