Insurance help-line - Centuries-old insurance ideals alive and well

Cedric E. Stephens, Contributor

Question: 'An' accident occurred between a taxi driver and me in September as I tried to negotiate a landslide around a bend along the Race Course road. You wrote about this on October 3. When I went to renew my policy the premium went up by 110 per cent - from J$79,000 to J$166,000. The third party, who you and I agree was at fault, and I are insured with the same company.

His claim amounted to over J$100,000. This amount was to fix the right front light and fender of his 1999 Nissan Sunny. The company agreed to pay it and gave me 14 days to contest their decision. The estimate for repairing the right fender and front door of my 2008 Suzuki SX4 was J$245,624.85. Is there any justice for persons like me? I am very upset that my insurer did not take the road code, road and weather conditions into account before deciding liability. Can you do anything to help me?

- rickangel_74@yahoo.com

HELPLINE: Your persistence in seeking justice—when all the cards seemed stacked against you—has paid off. The centuries-old insurance ideal of uberrima fides, the utmost good faith, is alive and well.

This augurs well for the preservation of the insurance system as a whole. The third party driver, who at the very least, contributed to the collision, has now received his just desserts. God is in heaven; the birds are singing and the sun is still shining!

Files reviewed

After the publication of the last article, 'Preserving the integrity of centuries-old insurance ideals', I sent it along with an email to another company official on Sunday. On Monday I received a written response that the files were being reviewed. On Wednesday the official and I had two conversations about the collision. They were open and friendly. The next day I received an email which read:

"I am sorry I did not get the opportunity of looking at this before. As you stated, in taking our decision, we did not consider sufficiently the actions taken and which should have reasonably been taken by both drivers under the conditions which prevailed at the time. We now accept that (the third party) could have contributed to this accident as we actually have no evidence, that having seen the obstruction in the road, he took any action. (The other driver's) statement, on the other hand, stated the action she took, which we agree is what was reasonably expected of her.

"As I advised, we often insure both parties in an accident in which liability is in dispute and we usually take great effort in resolving these by having interviews with both parties until we reach a position which is satisfactory to both or which has been satisfactorily explained to the party with the (greater) liability.

No claim discount

"It is too late to reverse the payment we have made, but based on the fact that (the lady driver) did not benefit from at least a contributory settlement, we will remove the load from her policy and allow her NCD (no claim discount). We regret the stress this has caused her and hope she can understand that this was an accident which required a more than an average knowledge of the law. It has served as a learning experience for us. Thanks once again for bringing this to our attention."

I was very impressed by the speed and sincerity of the response. The review of the files was very professional and thorough. Your insurer's overall response to the complaint was, without a doubt, the best reaction that I have had to a customer complaint in my 10 years of writing this column.

I hope that it will serve as a model for other insurers.

Even though you were not reimbursed for the cost of fixing your vehicle, I hope that this case will lead to more detailed investigations in the event of similar accidents and that reference is made to the road code when liability is being assessed instead of relying solely on drivers' statements and the subjective judgements of claim handlers.

Cedric E. Stephens provides independent information and free advice about the management of risks and insurance.aegis@cwjamaica.comSMS/text message to 812-7233