THE Land Transportation Office (LTO), in close coordination with the Insurance Commission, is now pushing for aggressive policy reforms on motor vehicle insurance, particularly on the Comprehensive Third Party Liability (CTPL).
LTO Chief, Assistant Secretary Atty. Vigor D. Mendoza II said the recent dialogue they had with the team of Insurance Commission head Atty. Reynaldo Regalado was held on Tuesday, January 28, wherein the urgency of the policy reforms were agreed upon especially in the light of the truck incident at the Katipunan Flyover in Quezon City last month that left four people dead and more than 20 others injured.
During the meeting between Asec Mendoza and top Insurance Commission officials, the observations were discussed about the long period of time before the insurance claims on CTPL are released.
In most cases, Asec Mendoza said that motorists are not even bothering to check on CTPL in cases of accidents, which prompted motorists to believe that the CTPL they are paying for as a requirement for vehicle registration and renewal is useless.
“The common belief is that this CTPL is useless. We already came to the point that this is being taken for granted, which means motor vehicle owners are paying for it simply because it is a requirement for motor vehicle registration and renewal,” said Asec Mendoza.
“Under the guidance of our DOTr Secretary Jaime J. Bautista, we want to change this perception among the motor vehicle owners, we want to make this relevant,” he added.
In the meeting, Asec Mendoza revealed that two important matters were discussed.
First, is the need to increase the benefits in cases of motor vehicle accidents.
In the case of the Katipunan Flyover truck accident last month, only P200,000 was released for all the victims—which also means that the amount will be divided among the four people who died and the more than 20 others who were injured.
For Asec Mendoza, the amount is too small to cover the necessary expenses for the fatalities and the hospitalization and medication for those who suffered serious injuries.
During a press briefing at LTO Central Office on Wednesday, January 29, Pasang Masda president Obet Martin said they already sent a letter to the Insurance Commission last year which calls for the increase of benefits under CTPL.
Asec Mendoza, for his part, said part of the discussion with the Insurance Commission is to find ways to ensure that the increase in the benefits will not impact on the cost of the premium that it will reach the point that it is no longer affordable to ordinary motor vehicle owners.
Asec Mendoza said the proposal of Sen. Raffy Tulfo to include property damage in the CTPL was also included in the discussion.
Another important matter that was discussed, according to Asec Mendoza, was the timeliness of the release of the insurance payment.
“When accidents happen, ang laking tulong kapag may agad agad na assistance coming from the insurance provider kase timing is everything sa aksidente. Importante na madala agad sa ospital ang biktima kaya mahalaga ang immediate assistance. Ang laking bagay na nito compared sa mag-iisip ka pa kung saan kukunin ang pera na pambayad sa ospital,” Asec Mendoza explained.
For a motor vehicle owner who does not have much money for emergency expenses, Asec Mendoza said the immediate assistance from the insurance provider is essential in cases of road accident.
“So this is what we are trying to fix by reviewing the existing policies in order to further improve it with the end goal of immediate release of assistance from insurance providers,” said Asec Mendoza.
Part of the solution on this matter, according to Asec Mendoza, is coming up with a hotline wherein motorists could immediately call for insurance-related concerns in time of accidents.
Meanwhile, Asec Mendoza lauded the Sterling Insurance for the release of the P200,000 payment to the owner of the truck that figured in an accident along Katipunan Flyover last month.
The representative from the Hermano Oil Manufacturing and Sugar Corporation vowed to come up with more funds to assist the victims
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