Thai driver calls for justice after crashing his Ferrari on the motorway - says insurance won't pay

[webfact]

Picture: INN

 

Comment was rife online after a Facebook post under the name of Jock Pattarapitthayangurn about an insurance company who wouldn't pay up following an accident.

 

It involved a sports car that crashed on the Chonburi motorway back on August 28th this year.

 

The owner took the car on a trailer and parked it outside the insurance company offices with documentation stuck to it.

 

According to the documents it is a Ferrari 458 Italia 4.5 Coupe and was insured for 12 million baht.

 

The poster said he was furious and wanted justice after the insurance company told him on September 9th why they were not paying up.

 

This despite the man paying a hefty premium of 258,072 baht.

 

The reasons given were twofold.

 

Firstly that the engine number was wrong and secondly that he had taken the car out for the purposes of doing a speed test.

 

The poster said it had been raining but he was not speeding and had not been charged with that.

 

He said that representations he made to the insurance regulator had met with deferrals and no joy. 

 

Many people took to social media to comment on the case, reported INN

 

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[anchadian]

Why would anyone buy a Ferrari to drive on Thailand's Roads is beyong me?

[blackcab]

If the engine number was wrong he hasn't got a chance. The change of engine is a modification that he didn't declare to the insurers, even if it was the same type of engine.

 

The insurance company's position will be that the car they insured is not the car that was crashed.

 

To be fair to the owner, he more than likely purchased the car that way and didn't check himself or have the vehicle examined when he purchased it.

[CelticBhoy]

". . . the name of Jock Pattarapitthayangurn . . ."

 

A Jock with a Ferrari! Well done that man. I'm proud of you . . . ????

[phetphet]

So now we have Joe Ferrari and Jock Ferrari.

[kotsak]

15 minutes ago, anchadian said:

Why would anyone buy a Ferrari to drive on Thailand's Roads is beyong me?

Agreed, I feel sorry for my cars enough already having to deal with the crappy road conditions. 

[Liverpool Lou]

50 minutes ago, anchadian said:

Why would anyone buy a Ferrari to drive on Thailand's Roads is beyong me?

The vast majority of Thailand's roads are fine and are probably better, in general, than US or UK roads and make driving a Ferrari no more risky than driving any other make on them.

[CRUNCHER]

21 minutes ago, phetphet said:

So now we have Joe Ferrari and Jock Ferrari.

Next it will be Joke Ferrari.

[blackcab]

A defamatory post has been removed. Please consider your comments before you post in this topic.

[digbeth]

News from other source indicate that the wrong engine/chassis number is mistyped from H to I,

how many of you actually check if the VIN on your insurance policy matches your car, whose fault is it? the company can claim that they gave a grace period to check everything was in order when you first purchase the insurance and had the paper delivered

 

to be fair, if you are driving a Ferrari you can probably afford to not cheap out on insurance, but to be fair, when the annual premiums are 300,000 baht, the savings could be 10-20,000 to go with third rate company like this instead of the big name ones.

 

looks like the insurance company look over to find any reason not to pay out and they found just what they need

[Saanim]

51 minutes ago, anchadian said:

Why would anyone buy a Ferrari to drive on Thailand's Roads is beyong me?

Perhaps you are living in another Thailand?

[worgeordie]

23 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The vast majority of Thailand's roads are fine and are probably better, in general, than US or UK roads and make driving a Ferrari no more risky than driving any other make on them.

It's not so much the roads , but other drivers ,can be a problem here.

regards worgeordie

 

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

The reasons given were twofold.

 

Firstly that the engine number was wrong and secondly that he had taken the car out for the purposes of doing a speed test.

Based on that, the insurer is justified.  Engine changes have to be notified to the insurer, if they're not, claims may be denied as their risk may have changed.

 

If the insurer knows/has evidence that he was on that road for the purpose of speed testing, that would invalidate his policy, the police not charging him with speeding is irrelevant to what he may have been doing.

[worgeordie]

There must have had a party at the insurance offices

when they found out it had wrong engine number......

I knew we would find something....???? not paying

regards worgeordie

[Liverpool Lou]

2 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

27 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The vast majority of Thailand's roads are fine and are probably better, in general, than US or UK roads and make driving a Ferrari no more risky than driving any other make on them.

It's not so much the roads , but other drivers ,can be a problem here.

The problem then would also be the same whether it's a Ferrari 458 being driven or a Fiat 500, but the poster I responded to was referring to Thailand's roads.

[Liverpool Lou]

2 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

There must have had a party at the insurance offices

when they found out it had wrong engine number......

I knew we would find something....???? not paying

regards worgeordie

There's something wrong with an insurer denying a claim because of multiple breaches of the policy conditions by the policy holder?   

 

Would it be ok for the policy holder to breach his policy's conditions, make an invalid claim and then demand payment when he's found out, if that is the case here?

 

Insurance companies use reinsurance to reduce their exposure in the event of large claims so this drivers claim would not be a big deal to his insurer, they'd be covered by their own reinsurance policies.

[Liverpool Lou]

28 minutes ago, digbeth said:

News from other source indicate that the wrong engine/chassis number is mistyped from H to I,

how many of you actually check if the VIN on your insurance policy matches your car, whose fault is it? the company can claim that they gave a grace period to check everything was in order when you first purchase the insurance and had the paper delivered

 

to be fair, if you are driving a Ferrari you can probably afford to not cheap out on insurance, but to be fair, when the annual premiums are 300,000 baht, the savings could be 10-20,000 to go with third rate company like this instead of the big name ones.

 

looks like the insurance company look over to find any reason not to pay out and they found just what they need

You seem to be, very conveniently, overlooking the alleged speed testing which invalidates the policy anyway!

[wombat]

28 minutes ago, digbeth said:

the insurance company look over to find any reason not to pay out 

that has been my experience with insurance companies.

[Banana7]

One likely scenario is that his engine was changed and he was testing the new engine.

[Saanim]

Does insurer have always to pay if a crazy driver run the Ferrari on the murky road against a wall? Perhaps he could get an idea how to organize a new model for himself.

[Mr Meeseeks]

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The vast majority of Thailand's roads are fine and are probably better, in general, than US or UK roads and make driving a Ferrari no more risky than driving any other make on them.

Absolute and utter nonsense. 

[Liverpool Lou]

1 minute ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The vast majority of Thailand's roads are fine and are probably better, in general, than US or UK roads and make driving a Ferrari no more risky than driving any other make on them.

Absolute and utter nonsense. 

You're right, it sure is absolute and utter nonsense to say that my comment was "absolute and utter nonsense".    

[Liverpool Lou]

31 minutes ago, wombat said:

1 hour ago, digbeth said:

the insurance company look over to find any reason not to pay out 

that has been my experience with insurance companies.

"...my experience with insurance companies".

 

You've, personally, had more than one experience of having legitimate claims denied or are you referring to urban myth?    Insurance companies are so profitable (and insured!) they have no need to reject valid claims.  

[Mr Meeseeks]

Just now, Liverpool Lou said:

You're right, it sure is absolute and utter nonsense to say that my comment was "absolute and utter nonsense".    

My daily drive is a quick Benz which has low ground clearance and I have to be very careful about road conditions including potholes, sharp inclines, drain covers etc. I also own a Porsche Cayman which I only use on the odd occasion as the it can only be driven on certain highways due to the poor condition and nature of Thai roads. I have to ensure I do not end up somewhere that it cannot traverse or even get damaged!

 

Both cars are stock no suspension mods, lowering or anything else. 

 

Thai roads are very harsh on sports cars and even moreso on supercars like Jock's Ferrari 458. 

 

Also, your comment that "driving a Ferrari no more risky than driving any other make on them" when referring to Thai roads is nonsense as a Ferrari 458 has much lower ground clearance and lower profile tyres and thus will be far more susceptible to the poor road construction and surface than other vehicles such a pick-up for example.

 

Also, while we are on the subject Thailand uses a lot of un-surfaced pre-cast concrete slabs for roads which are extremely dangerous especially in the wet as they do not have the abrasive surface that tarmac or similar provides for vehicles.

[Liverpool Lou]

2 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

I have to ensure I do not end up somewhere that it cannot traverse or even get damaged!

Where are your usual driving roads?

[Mr Meeseeks]

1 minute ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Where are your usual driving roads?

Chonburi and highway to 7 to BKK. 

 

Like I said I have few issues with the Benz but cannot take the Porsche out unless I know the roads. Even near my house there are a couple of roads it simply cannot go down without getting damaged, one has numerous potholes and a sharp on-ramp and the other has a number of poorly fitted drain covers that if hit cause the chassis to bottom out and scrape the road. 

 

Things are improving and roads are getting better but there's still too many shortcuts being taken with construction and too many heavy lorries and goods vehicles using roads that can't handle their weight. 

[action]

2 hours ago, anchadian said:

Why would anyone buy a Ferrari to drive on Thailand's Roads is beyong me?

Gee,  I don't know.  Maybe because they are Thai?  Would it make more sense for a Thai person living in Thailand to buy a Ferrari to drive on roads in Germany?

[Mr Meeseeks]

15 minutes ago, action said:

Gee,  I don't know.  Maybe because they are Thai?  Would it make more sense for a Thai person living in Thailand to buy a Ferrari to drive on roads in Germany?

All joking aside, it would probably be cheaper to have a Ferrari garaged in Europe and to fly over occasionally to drive it, than actually buying and owning one here in Thailand.

[blackcab]

Another defamatory post has been removed. Please do not post negative comments about the owner of the car or the manner of their driving.

 

This is the last time I will publicly warn members. Anyone posting defamatory comments in this topic from this point on will receive a substantial posting holiday.

[happy me]

When I got my insurance first time around they sent someone out to get a rubbing of the frame and engine number..if the insurance put in the wrong number then it's their fault. But if on later investigation the insurance company find that the engine and frame don't match from manufacturer details they certainly have a case.. on a different note.. how many of us see accidents on a straight road here!!!!