Egypt: Insurers to talk with govt about reviving highway cover
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Nov 2017
Egypt Motor
The Insurance Federation of Egypt (IFE) will discuss with the General Authority for Roads, Bridges and Land Transfer (GARBLT) about reviving insurance coverage for highway and train travellers, according to the new head of the insurance association.
Mr Alaa El Zoheiry, Chairman of IFE, said that there is “no logic” in neglecting the citizen’s right to receive compensation from the state in such accident cases, according to local media reports.
He added that he will find out from the Authority whether there are alternative channels used by the government agency to provide compensation in the event of death or injury in highway or rail mishaps.
In June 2014, the Ministry of Transport, represented by the GARBLT, terminated a contract with insurers and the IFE covering accidents on highways, trains and the metro.
The Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) said that 5,343 people were killed in road accidents in 2016, while 18,646 were injured and 21,089 vehicles were damaged. The number of vehicle accidents increased by 1.1% y-o-y to 14,710 in 2016.
According to statistical data prepared by the Railways Authority in cooperation with CAPMAS, there were 1,249 train accidents in 2016, compared to 1,235 in 2015 and 1,044 in 2014. Crashes involving cars that tried to cross railroads but were hit by a train instead made up 80% of the accidents, while train derailment accounted for 15%. M