|
Friday, September 30, 2005
Espinoza: Addressing insurance loopholes
By Fred C. Espinoza
ALARMING. The state-owned Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has offered to help government plug “alarming loopholes” in the vehicle insurance system by handling all compulsory third party liability (CTPL) coverage. I would say that the move is a welcome development for both the operators of land transport services and millions of our countrymen who expect utmost benefit from the industry.
But the proposal is drawing flak, especially from the private sector which fears that the proposed intervention would effectively turn into a monopoly and shut off legitimate non-life insurers from the lucrative vehicle insurance business.
What many could not understand, however, is that while the leaders in the industry have realized the immense value of the vehicle insurance business, they seem to have become inutile in preventing crooks in their ranks from endangering the lives and well-being of both motorists and commuters in the process by the issuance of “fake car insurance coverage.”
What attracted my attention was a report in the paper yesterday which showed that the Land Transportation Office (LTO) 7 even had to appeal directly to the Insurance Commission to investigate reports that some vehicles, including passenger jeepneys, buses and taxicabs, have fake insurance coverage.
As far as I can remember, in my more than 20 years as a journalist, this problem has been with us with nothing being done to resolve it once and for all.
If ever something is being done to address the complaints against fake insurance coverage, the process is often very tedious and involves more expenses.
For example, complaints of fake insurance coverage were being referred to the commission’s central office in Manila whenever insurance firms claim that their agents in Cebu failed to remit premiums, the report said.
Why can’t the insurance firms take full responsibility of their agents’ lapses?
And why make the victims suffer, and the industry as well, for that matter? In the case of LTO, it has to spend its resources just to set up a system to verify reports of rampant faking of “third party liability” policies, which are mandatory for registration.
According to Data Technology Tech, a private firm, for every verification, the firm charges a fee of P13.80 for the service. Don’t tell me the victim of fake insurance coverage must foot the bill?
Are we made to understand that if the private firm is incapable of operating its business in accordance with the expectations of the public and in accordance with the requirements set by the government then the state has the right to take over its operations?
In this case, I believe that the GSIS cannot just stand idly by while the public is left to the mercy of peddlers of fake insurance coverage policies.
In behalf of my fellow commuters, I would strongly urge the GSIS management to take a strong hand in addressing the alarming loopholes in third party insurance coverage in the country.
This is the only way to restore sanity in the vital vehicle insurance business and, above all, provide more power to the land transport industry to fulfill its mandate to make accessible a safe, efficient and affordable mode of promoting mobility in the movement of goods and people and around the country.
According to the latest development, the state pension fund “had recently presented to the Department of Transportation and Communication the proposal to cover all the CTPL coverage through a service agreement with the LTO.”
GSIS executives said it will be like a one-stop-shop, which means that the CTPL coverage will already be included in what the vehicle owners will pay to the LTO when they register their vehicles. If the management of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority was able to augment the security measures in the airport by hiring the services of better security personnel from a security agency, owned jointly by government agencies, there’s no reason why the same can’t be done in the case of the topsy-turvy vehicle insurance business that has become a pain the neck to motor vehicle owners and transport operators.
(September 30, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
