The Algerian Union of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies (UAR) is close to finalising a convention to allow direct compensation to be made to motor policyholders involved in accidents, said the association’s President Brahim Djamel Kessali.
The signing of this agreement among insurers should take place before the end of 2017, reported the Algeria Press Service.
With this mechanism, there will be no more recourse, while the customer will be reimbursed at the level of his insurance agency whether for damage or for civil liability, he said.
“We are currently working on a new convention called Direct Indemnity of the Insured (IDA) which will allow insureds to be systematically compensated for vehicle damage and collisions without their cases being the object of recourse,” he said.
Mr Kessali, who is also the CEO of the Algerian Insurance and Reinsurance Company (CAAR), said that thanks to the Remedial Recourse Convention, 78,000 motor claims were cleared by the end of 2015 for an overall reimbursement of more than DZD3 billion (US$27.2 million) for cases dating 2010 through 2012.
Cases dating 2013 through 2015 are being processed thanks to an inter-company agreement for the settlement of motor vehicle claims, he said. This has allowed for the settlement of claims of under DZD150,000 to be carried out within 45 days and those of higher amounts to be settled in less than 60 days.
All these outstanding cases should be settled among insurers themselves before the new convention is effected, he said.
In 2015, the total amount of claims payouts reached DZD71 billion, of which DZD47 billion was for the motor business, he said, adding that insurers annually receive more than one million claims due to increases in the number of road accidents.
He revealed that a study is underway on the creation of a computerised claims management platform as well as the establishment of a national database on drivers.
DZD100 = US$0.91