RIYADH, 22 June 2006 — The new third-party car insurance scheme, which will be applied on vehicles instead of licenses, will come into force soon after it has been approved by the Council of Ministers, Maj. Gen. Fahd ibn Saud Al-Bishr, director general of traffic, announced yesterday.
Bishr said the unified car insurance document issued by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), the Kingdom’s insurance regulator, would help protect the rights of the insured and would give a boost to the market.
He said the document, which has been published on SAMA’s website, offers compensations of up to SR5 million. However, he pointed out that insurance companies could provide better services within the framework of the document.
Bishr favored the initiative taken by SAMA to organize the car insurance market, by fixing compensations, monitoring companies and settling conflicts.
“There are several pending cases with SAMA and we hope people will get their due rights,” he said while calling for stringent punishment against companies that delay payment of compensations.
The new car insurance document endorsed by the SAMA governor is expected to boost the Kingdom’s insurance market, as it will inject confidence in both vehicle owners and insurance firms.
According to market sources, car insurance premiums will differ from one company to another as it varies now between SR350 and SR980.
