Increase in motor insurance premiums

Many motorists have seen a large increase in motor insurance premiums in recent years. Some have their renewals rejected, due to bad luck or bad driving that have resulted in two or more claims. In some cases, the large claims were due to fraudulent claims lodged by third parties.

I have received e-mails of this nature from motorists over the past years, "Mr. Tan, I have been driving without any claims for more than 15 years. Last year, I had an accident. The other party lodged a large claim. The insurance company paid the claim, but did not check with me. This year, they want to increase my premium by 30%. What should I do?"

I usually advised them to find another insurance company and provided them this list of hotline numbers. However, they were unsuccessful in most cases, and most insurance companies would not want to take a motorist with a claim.

Some motorists have their renewals rejected due to two or more claims. They were not able to get another company to take over the insurance.

This may happen to a small percentage of motorists each year. For these people, getting renewals is a stressful exercise. Accidents can happen to anyone, even if you are careful most of the time. You may be careless just once, to get into trouble.

Some people who are caught in this difficult situation come to me for help. Other people who are not involved tend to say, "These drivers are reckless. They should not expect to get their insurance renewed. It is better that they keep off the roads".

This tends to be the attitude of Singaporeans, until they become the party that is personally involved. I hope that Singaporeans can be more empathic to people who are caught in a bad situation due to bad luck or circumstances beyond their control.

Tan Kin Lian