Thai Office of Insurance now requiring increased 3rd party auto coverage?

[funlovinkid]

I renew my car insurance every July, and this year, I received a notice from my insurance broker that their rates have increased because the Thai Office of Insurance Commission is now requiring that policies provide increased coverage for third parties injured or killed in an accident.  I asked them for a copy of the notice sent by the OIC, and they did send it, but it's written entirely in Thai.  I searched for anything related on this site, but couldn't access the "Car Insurance" forum, for more than a day now.  Can anyone confirm if this policy change is true, or can someone please direct me to the appropriate forum, assuming one exists?

[djctwatt]

There have in fact been a host of changes. For voluntary policies (type 1), the coverage (sum or total amount insured) has not changed. However, the new regulations now stipulate a standardized payment for third party death and disability. Rather then negotiating a settlement, the sum insured must now be paid (up to 2M THB). This is a significant increase from what is typically paid, and is likely why your premium has increased.

 

For compulsory coverage (por ro bor), OIC did not allow premiums to increase, but the coverage for death and disability has also increased from 300k to 500k.

 

Hope this helps!

Edited July 2, 2020 by djctwatt

[djctwatt]

Just as general information, motor insurance is one of industries that is actually heavily (and effectively) regulated here. All premiums and pricing must comply with set minimum and maximum rates, and policy conditions (your coverage) must follow a set standardized template. There is virtually no difference in coverage between insurers. Breach of the regulations by insurers (motor) result in very heavy penalties from OIC. There is a public listing of breaches on OIC's website, all in Thai of course.

 

Always check your sum insured to see if you have been over or under insured, as this is one of the main factors that determine your premium. 

[Bigz]

4 hours ago, djctwatt said:

There have in fact been a host of changes. For voluntary policies (type 1), the coverage (sum or total amount insured) has not changed. However, the new regulations now stipulate a standardized payment for third party death and disability. Rather then negotiating a settlement, the sum insured must now be paid (up to 2M THB). This is a significant increase from what is typically paid, and is likely why your premium has increased.

 

For compulsory coverage (por ro bor), OIC did not allow premiums to increase, but the coverage for death and disability has also increased from 300k to 500k.

 

Hope this helps!

When did this 2m baht coverage came into effect? I did my renewal online in May. It was automatically set to 2m baht for 3rd party/death but I could reduce it to 1m manually saving me 1k baht on the premium.

[david555]

18 minutes ago, Bigz said:

When did this 2m baht coverage came into effect? I did my renewal online in May. It was automatically set to 2m baht for 3rd party/death but I could reduce it to 1m manually saving me 1k baht on the premium.

Probably meaning , in case..., you have to cough up the remaining 1 mill. by your own money I think .

[holy cow cm]

My policies for my new truck and year old car are 20k+. Both fully paid off but I prefer to have good coverage. 

[Bigz]

34 minutes ago, david555 said:

Probably meaning , in case..., you have to cough up the remaining 1 mill. by your own money I think .

That could be it. I will try not to kill 5 people in my next accident to stay within the 1m budget.

[david555]

8 minutes ago, Bigz said:

That could be it. I will try not to kill 5 people in my next accident to stay within the 1m budget.

if you kill 5 I  am not sure , but could it be   5 X 2 mill ?…. or have they to share the 1 X 2 mill. ?

 

Lucky you have the good intentions try not to kill … ????????

Edited July 2, 2020 by david555

[Bigz]

1 minute ago, david555 said:

if you kill 5 I  am not sure , but could it be   5 X 2 mill ?…. or have they to share the 1 X 2 mill. ?

 

Lucky you have the good intentions try not to kill … ????????

Haha! Nah, they usually only award 1-2 hundred k baht for death. If the victim survives can be more costly. (Hospital bills, etc)

[funlovinkid]

1 hour ago, Bigz said:

When did this 2m baht coverage came into effect? I did my renewal online in May. It was automatically set to 2m baht for 3rd party/death but I could reduce it to 1m manually saving me 1k baht on the premium.

Just got off the phone with my insurance company (AXA).  The OIC revision went into effect on April 1, 2020.  In the past, the insurance company would perform an investigation as to the remaining lifetime earning potential of the injured (or killed) party, in order to arrive at an acceptable figure for payout.  Under the new rules, no such investigation occurs, and the injured party simply receives the fixed amount specified in the policy.  In my case, the injured party would receive 500K from the compulsory policy, and 1M from the voluntary policy.  This total payout apparently represents a significant increase from what was typically paid out by the insurance company in the past, which is why my premium went up.  As far as the maximum third party coverage allowed, I'm told that AXA won't allow anything higher than 1M per person, but maybe your insurance company allows a higher limit.  Hope this helps.

[Bigz]

4 minutes ago, funlovinkid said:

Just got off the phone with my insurance company (AXA).  The OIC revision went into effect on April 1, 2020.  In the past, the insurance company would perform an investigation as to the remaining lifetime earning potential of the injured (or killed) party, in order to arrive at an acceptable figure for payout.  Under the new rules, no such investigation occurs, and the injured party simply receives the fixed amount specified in the policy.  In my case, the injured party would receive 500K from the compulsory policy, and 1M from the voluntary policy.  This total payout apparently represents a significant increase from what was typically paid out by the insurance company in the past, which is why my premium went up.  As far as the maximum third party coverage allowed, I'm told that AXA won't allow anything higher than 1M per person, but maybe your insurance company allows a higher limit.  Hope this helps.

Thanks for clearing that up. So it seems that everything is fine with my voluntary 3rd party 1m baht cover.