Under the Motor Traffic Act, drivers of motor vehicles must obtain a minimum third party insurance cover. The rule was implemented to safeguard the third party, should there be a road accident and the driver of the vehicle involved is unable to compensate the injured party (Chapter 203, Section 99).
The insurance certificate says the company will indemnify the injured person of all sums in terms of the company’s legal liability as per the Motor Traffic Act. However, one cannot even obtain a claim form without submitting a letter of demand to place the claim with the insurer. This was not the practice a few years ago.
Every day more than 50 road traffic accidents occur in Sri Lanka, and at least 10 of these accidents result in the death of the victim. The victim’s dependents cannot always afford the cost of obtaining a letter of demand, after the medical and hospital expenses.
After sending the insurer the letter of demand and the duly completed claim form, which is four to five pages long and filled with relevant and irrelevant questions, you have to obtain a court order to get your compensation.
You need money to get a letter of demand done and you need more money to proceed with a court case, after all the medical expenses.
Because of this tedious and costly procedure required by insurers in Sri Lanka, at least 80 per cent of road accident victims do not claim their legitimate compensation.
The Insurance Board of Sri Lanka should do something about this. It should issue guidelines regarding the payment of compensation to victims of road traffic accidents. Let’s go back to the former system followed by the insurance companies.
Vasantha Ranasinghe,
Ethul-Kotte
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