Vehicle owners in Ethiopia without third party vehicle insurance after the 10th of December will face disciplinary action. The deadline for registration was set by the Insurance Fund Office last September.
The Insurance Fund Office is in charge of setting tariff rates, preparing windshield sticker and certificates, handling emergency claims and third party claims for uninsured or untraced vehicles.
The office has delegated the Ethiopian Insurance Corporation to act on its behalf in all areas except for the setting of tariff rates.
The new third party policy insures vehicular accidents on ‘any person other than the insured person, a member of the insured person’s family, the driver or any person employed on a vehicle to which the policy applies.’Although there are no limits to the extent that victims can claim for a particular accident the total extent of liability under the new policy is limited to a maximum of 40,000 birr in the case of a death, 15,000 birr for bodily injury, 1,000 birr for emergency medical treatment and 100,000 birr in the case of damage to property.
The overage rates are said to be lower than those applicable in other member countries of Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). This could be a point of contention especially since motor coverage in member countries is applicable according to the liability coverage of the country they are in according to Debebe Tamene manager of the new policy at the EIC.
Source: Addis Fortune
