The civil liability insurance sparks protests
The Government in Bucharest on Wednesday adopted an emergency ordinance aimed at solving issues related to the civil liability insurance for car owners.
Corina Cristea, 15.09.2016, 14:20
Civil liability insurance premiums have been frozen for the next six months at a reference value which the Financial Surveillance Authority will make public within 30 days. The measure is part of an emergency ordinance the Government passed on Wednesday and is applied to all car owners, not just carriers. Among others, the document stipulates that insurance contracts can be signed over a period ranging from one month to one year.
The insured party can at any time call for the termination of the contract. The insurance covers damages incurred from accidents, and the value of repair works will be reclaimed from the party that produced the accident. A Government release states that the ordinance complies with EU directives in the field, also taking into account the experience of other member states as regards insurance-related regulations, as well as proposals voiced by professional associations of car insurers and carriers. Despite the measures adopted by the Government, part of Romanian carriers decided to go through with their protests.
Four of the six national carrier associations have staged a huge rally in front of the Government building, clogging traffic in Bucharest and 20 other cities. Carriers want insurance premiums to reflect an average value of damages reported by the Financial Surveillance Authority. Employers’ associations have called for an average value of 1,100 euros for trucks and lorries, accounting for average damages, as compared to the 4,100 euros proposed by the authorities.
Negotiations with the Government had previously failed to settle on a ceiling for damages, while freezing insurance premiums, a measure sanctioned by the Competition Council, seemed to sit well with Romanian carriers, who have nevertheless voiced their reluctance pending the publication of the Government ordinance.
Carriers have also called for the resignation of the head of the Financial Surveillance Authority, Misu Negritoiu, whom they accuse of being responsible for the significant increase of insurance premiums over the last year. According to carriers’ associations, premiums allegedly doubled as compared to the first quarter of 2015. Misu Negritoiu, on the other hand, claims he is blameless, as the Authority cannot set prices and has no legal right to intervene in contracts signed by insurers. The Financial Surveillance Authority president told Parliament that the current crisis has been generated by the liberalization of the car insurance market, a process started in 2007 with Romania’s EU accession.
