RIYADH, 18 May 2003 — The National Company for Cooperative Insurance (NCCI) paid out SR40 million ($10.6 million) in insurance claims to its “rukhsa” customers who were involved in 13,200 accidents during the last six months.
“The amount represents the total compensation paid by NCCI beginning with the enforcement of the third-party liability motor insurance, known as ‘rukhsa,’ which was approved by the Cabinet and launched on Nov. 20, 2002,” Ahmad Al-Shalan, NCCI’s marketing services manager, announced yesterday.
He said the compensation included the cost of motor repairs as a result of accidents, public and private property as well as the costs of death and bodily injuries throughout the Kingdom.
NCCI covered 50 percent of daily motor accidents that occurred in the Kingdom, Al-Shalan said, adding that the number of people detained by the police had also gone down as a result of the bail bond certificates. NCCI also paid SR95 million for comprehensive insurance customers.
According to available statistics, there are 3.5 million to 4 million people with Saudi driving license. Of these, 90 percent hold private driving licenses while the remaining 10 percent are vehicle licenses for light, medium, machinery and heavy vehicles.
In another development, Al-Shalan said, NCCI has refused to pay compensation to the owner of a house in the vicinity of one of the bombed compounds that was damaged. He explained that the owner had filed a claim since her house was damaged by broken glass from the explosion.
Al-Shalan said her claim could not be paid since insurance cover against terrorism was not part of the policy. The NCCI is ready to design policies to cover terrorism but NCCI will not offer such policies except on demand since they will be expensive. “Barring a few requests, we don’t see much potential for these policies,” he concluded.
