The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor BAHAMIAN general insurance underwriters yesterday warned that newly-passed amendments to the Road Traffic Act could result in motor vehicle premiums "doubling, tripling, quadrupling", with some types of coverage withdrawn altogether due to the "ill conceived" reforms. A senior insurance industry executive, speaking on behalf of the six main motor vehicle underwriters in the Bahamas, told Tribune Business that the amendments would likely result in both the sector and consumer "getting it in the neck", the Government having failed to appreciate the follow through implications of its reforms. The executive, speaking to this newspaper on condition of anonymity, said Bahamian general insurers' key concerns surrounded the elimination of the requirement for police officers to attend all vehicle accident scenes, plus how motor cycles were to be treated under the new Act. Emphasising that he was speaking on behalf of Bahamas First, RoyalStar Assurance, Summit Insurance, Insurance Company of the Bahamas (ICB), Security & General and Insurance Company of the West Indies (ICWI), the industry veteran reiterated that without police officers to determine liability for accidents, the sector was likely to see a rise in fraudulent claims. And it was also set to make claims processing more costly, time-consuming and contentious, the industry executive also warned that the Road Traffic Act reforms had opened the door for persons to make claims for third party property and vehicle damages. While the current Act permits Bahamians to make direct claims on insurance underwriters for third party deaths and bodily injuries, the reforms will allow them to now claim for property damage, too, even though their clients - the insured - may deny causing the accident. "Never before has it allowed for claims for third party property damages," the insurance industry executive told Tribune Business. "Now, we can end up paying a claim to a third party, even though our client, the insured, denies liability for it. "We now can't go back to the police, who won't be attending the scene of every accident, to say: 'What's your determination of the liability?' "We have to wait and see if our fears come to fruition, if our fears are grounded, and if we start to pay out more and higher claims to people for third party property damages. You could see premiums double, triple, quadruple...." The insurance executive also questioned how Bahamian insurers' clients would feel if claims were being paid for accidents where it was not their fault, and then see their motor vehicle premiums increase as a result. Tribune Business was shown minutes of a meeting between the six main motor vehicle underwriters where the issues raised by the Road Traffic Act amendments were discussed. The Bahamas-based carriers said they were requesting that the Attorney General's Office confirm in writing whether the Act amendments were intended to treat motor cycles as motor vehicles. If they were, the insurers are seeking that the Act be amended to mandate that motor cyclists wear crash helmets, bringing this form of transportation into line with the requirements for seat belts, drug and alcohol prohibitions. "In addition, the Road Traffic Act should recognise that failure to observe such requirement/s may be regarded as grounds for 'Contributory Negligence'," the meeting minutes. Expanding on this theme, the insurance industry executive said: "If motor cycles are confirmed as motor vehicles, and there's no inclusion of crash helmets and contributory negligence" then it could cause Bahamian insurers to stop writing motor cycle policies altogether. This, he said, could impact businesses such as scooter rental companies that served the tourism industry. Pointing out that many other countries included 'contributory negligence' in their legislation, the insurance executive said it enabled claims to be reduced - not paid at all - if it was determined that the insured was responsible for their own misfortune. "There is nothing in this Act at all," they told Tribune Business. "By omitting the crash helmets, and if they become a paraplegic because they were not wearing one, we've got no grounds for reducing the claim." Asked to assess the overall impact of the Road Traffic Act amendments, the executive said: "'It's ill conceived, ill thought-out, and as usual it will be the poor consumer and the insurers that get it in the neck. The public has a right to know. We're the ones that are going to get blamed for it, as we will have to pay out extra money, then charge the consumer more money." And the minutes of the meeting added: "Though careful not to alienate Government, it was felt that the potential effects of the above changes would at best lead to premium increases, and at worst removal of insurance." The insurers have written to both Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and Commissioner of Police, Ellison Greenslade, seeking a meeting with both either themselves or through the Bahamas Insurance Association (BIA). The legislation has passed both the House of Assembly and the Senate, and is now awaiting royal assent by the Governor-General and gazzettng before being implemented into law. As a result, Bahamian general insurers feel they are in the last window of opportunity to effect changes to protect their interests, and those of the consumers.