The work of the Office of the Financial Supervision Authority on the final version of the draft of recommendations relating to the settlement of vehicle insurance claims is coming to an end.
This is intended to settle the conflict between insurance companies and repair shops. The dispute concerns the costs of repair under MTPL of motor vehicle owners. UKNF emphasized that the initial deadline for the recommendation to come into force – June this year – will be postponed for a few months. This is because the project attempts to clarify the issues that cause confusion.
It should be noted that one of the members of the Entrepreneurs Council at the Ombudsman for Small and Medium Enterprises – Łukasz Szarama – claims that in the last decade, car repair shops raised their hourly wages too irregularly, which is why there is a conflict. According to the expert, repair shops were very often stifled by insurers. Hence, given the current factors, garages should raise the prices of their services. Otherwise they are threatened with collapse.
It is also necessary for the state to intervene in terms of determining invoices for repairs by insurance companies. The last is a negative impact on the injured consumer.
The dispute comes amid fierce price competition, which has resulted in long declining rates in third party liability. Meanwhile, the cost of repairing cars is now several dozen percent higher than last year. Specialists estimate that in order for the OC business to be profitable, premiums should increase by 60-70 percent.
As regards the adequacy of third party liability premiums to repair costs, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority stated that insurers should approach trends resulting from historical data with a great deal of caution. Additionally, it is advisable that they assume higher repair costs in the future.
