Middle East News - Bahrain: Standardised auto insurance policy to be ready by mid-year
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Mar 2016
The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) is working on standardising the policy for comprehensive and third-party auto insurance. The document will be made compulsory by the middle of this year.
CBB is holding consultations with insurance companies and the Consumer Protection Department of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce on the subject, reported the Alayam news website.
There has been an increasing number of complaints against local insurance companies by policyholders. Moreover, each insurer adopts different criteria and imposes varying requirements such as in deductibles and policy conditions.
A source close to the development said that the standardised policy will be implemented in two phases, with the first phase applicable to third-party auto insurance, followed by comprehensive auto insurance in the second phase.
The move by the CBB will include standardisation of terms relating to compensation, percentage tolerances, supply of spare parts, repairs and the standards and requirements for the selection of auto repair centres.
According to CBB data, auto insurance premiums in the Kingdom totalled BHD72.2 million (US$191.4 million) in 2014, accounting for 27% of total premiums.
BHD1 = US$2.65