Workshop uses lawyer to make the claim

Hi Mr Tan,

I did not involve in any accident since 1997 but had one recently.

I was also surprised that the workshop involved a lawyer to help get payment from the insurance company. I believe that was not the case ten years ago.

I asked the workshop owner why there is a need for lawyer and he told me that the insurance company will act promptly if they are represnted by a lawyer. If this is true then the insurance companies are responsible for this practise.

REPLY:

Singapore is one of the few countries in the world where lawyers are engaged to make the third party claim. This is expensive and wasteful.

The fault lies mainly with the insurance companies and the regulator. The insurance companies allow the bad practice to continue, and do not take any action to combat it (except for NTUC Income during my tenure).

In many countries, the regulator (ie Government) takes the lead to combat bad practice, when the insurance companies are unable or unwilling to act. They act to protect the interest of the consumers.