Soon car owners may have to pay insurance premium for co-passengers

New Delhi: If you are a car or other vehicle owner, you could soon be asked to pay insurance premium to provide a medical expenses coverage of up to Rs 25,000 for the co-passengers travelling with you in your car. The Working Group of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has recommended that all passengers travelling in a motor vehicle should have Rs 25,000 medical expenses coverage to meet the cost of medical treatment arising out of an accident. The insurer will set the premium accordingly.

"All the occupants travelling in motor vehicles shall have Rs. 25,000/- medical expenses coverage arising out of an accident to the insured vehicle covered under the basic policy and appropriate premium for this shall be charged by the insurers," IRDAI's Working Group on Product Structure for Motor Own Damage Cover has recommended in a draft proposal.

As per the registered seating capacity of each vehicle, the Working Group has proposed to have inbuilt accidental medical expenses coverage (indemnity basis) for all occupants travelling in all motor vehicles.

As per the recommendations, the benefits of the new proposal, if accepted, will not be paid when the actual number of passengers travelling in the insured vehicle is more than the registered capacity at the time of occurrence of such accident. For example, a car has a registered seating capacity of four (including the driver). If the car faces any accident while five passengers were travelling in the car, then this medical expenses claim will not be paid to the claimant.

Exclusions

As per the recommendations of the Working Group, some cases will be excluded from the benefit of the new proposal. Here are they

-Expenses towards psychosomatic disorders of any kind, whether caused or accentuated by accident or otherwise.

-Expenses for any physiotherapy treatment.

-Expenses related to a sickness, pre-existing disease, disease or medical disorder not directly consequential to the accident.

-Expense not supported by an original and valid bill/receipt and related prescription of the attending medical practitioner/hospital/ nursinghome.

-Expenses when the treatment is started after 24 hours from the date of the accident

-Expense arising or resulting from or traceable to intentional self-injury, suicide or attempted suicide physical defect or infirmity.

-Expense arising or resulting from or traceable to an accident whilst the insured or any person driving the vehicle with the knowledge and consent of the insured is under the influence of intoxicating liquor or psychotropic or narcotic substances.

The Working Group has also recommended many other amendments to existing insurance rules of both passenger and commercial vehicles. These recommendations have been put in the public domain for comments from stakeholders by December 16, 2019.

Source: ET Now