Palace eyes higher insurance coverage for private cars

MANILA, Philippines — Following a series of deadly road crashes, President Marcos yesterday ordered the Department of Transportation to study a proposal to adopt the public utility vehicle (PUV) insurance system for private cars.

The Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines (Altodap) is pushing for an increase in insurance coverage for passengers of private vehicles under the Compulsory Third Party Liability.

The existing PUV insurance policy under the Passenger Personal Accident Insurance entitles passengers of buses and other PUVs to a maximum compensation of P400,000 each for death in a road crash and P100,000 in case of injuries.

This is not the case for private car passengers, who are only entitled to up to P200,000, to be divided among all the victims, Altodap said.

Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said Marcos has directed Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon to study the proposal for higher insurance coverage.

“This is for additional protection for those who might become victims of negligence or road accidents,” Castro said at a press briefing.

Altodap cited the Katipunan flyover accident when a truck rammed motorcycles and private cars in December last year, leaving four people dead and 25 injured.

Only P200,000 was released and the amount had to be divided among the families of the fatalities and the injured victims, the group said.

It was the same case for the relatives of the 10 people who died in the crash along the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway on May 1, according to Altodap.

Source: philstar.com