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No mobile device while driving

10 September 2015 By Alex Tan Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user JustaMonster

In February 2015, there are important changes made to the law governing usage of mobile devices while driving a vehicle in motion. It is an offence to hold and use your mobile devices while you are driving. First offenders will be fined up to $1,000 and/or jailed for up to six months. Repeat offenders face up to $2000 in fines and/or jailed up to 12 months.

Using of mobile device includes making voice or video calls, reading, sending, composing and retrieving text messages regardless of any platform on social media. The offence is committed when you hold the device in one or more hands while the vehicle is moving. Anyone caught holding any mobile device while driving can be found guilty of committing an offence. To be specific, mobile devices are any hand-held equipment which are designed or capable of being used for telecommunications. This means mobiles phones as well as tablets.

Even though the amended law does not specially mention wearable technology such as Samsung Gear and Apple iWatch etc, the use of such devices could be classified as inconsiderate driving, which is an offence that carries up to $1000 fine and a six month jail term.

Besides, please be prepared to have your mobile devices taken away by the police for investigation. It was mentioned that all road traffic cases involving injury or otherwise serious collisions such as multi-vehicle chain collisions or where public property such as traffic lights, lamps or road dividers are damaged, in order to ascertain whether there was a mobile device usage at the point of time of accident, the Traffic Police might have to confiscate for purpose of investigations the mobiles devices of every driver involved in the accident for forensic analysis by the Technological Forensics Investigation Branch of the CID.

This means that following a serious accident, regardless of whether you are the cause of the victim, your mobile device and the SIM card might be taken away from you for possibly months. If criminal proceedings that arise from the accident, the mobile device and SIM card would be retained as evidence until the eventual resolution of the case in court.

Tips which you may wish to take note: to avoid hassle in case your phone is being confiscated by the police for investigation. You may back up all your essential data and contacts on cloud services and for people who use mobile phones as a business tool, you may also consider multi-SIM plans offered by your service provider.

By Foo Cheow Ming

See Full Story at International Investigators Pte Ltd

Driver database helps uncover 212,000 car insurance lies

10 September 2015 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user Salim Fadhley

Thousands of drivers who lie to their insurance firm have been caught out by a £58 million database that hands over motorist details to insurers and promises to “eliminate insurance fraud”.

The Government began sharing details of 40 million licence-holders with firms 12 months ago including whether drivers have been caught speeding before, their age and postcode, and whether they have previously lied to insurers.

Since the launch of the “MyLicence” database, part of a £58 million Government project to digitise driver details, firms have detected 18pc more incidences of motorists lying on car insurance applications in an attempt to get a cheaper premium.

There were 212,000 attempted dishonest applications for motor insurance in 2014, according to the industry body, the Association of British Insurers (ABI). This is one fifth higher than in 2013, before the database was unveiled.

This equates to just over 4,000 fraudulent applications found out every week.

Common lies exposed by the licence-checking service, currently accessed by 100 insurers and comparison websites, include “forgetting” to come clean about previous claims or unspent convictions and giving a different postcode to their correct address.

Previously, insurers would check individual driving records through the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), a government body, but this was expensive and time-consuming.

Insurers instead relied on information from individual drivers when they filled out an application form.

Industry data suggests 23pc of drivers fail to provide accurate records of their driving, whether intentionally or not. Out of all motorists, 16pc hide their previous convictions.

by Kate Palmer

See Full Story at telegraph.co.uk

Call for official inquiry into motor insurance

8 September 2015 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user Rachel Johnson

The Government has been called on to set up a broad-based inquiry into the insurance market in a bid to cut the spiralling cost of premiums.

The inquiry would be similar to the Motor Insurance Advisory Board, which reported in 2002 and made 67 radical recommendations.

That led to the setting up of the Injuries Board and brought lower insurance premiums.

The call for an inquiry to shake-up the insurance market was made by the Consumers Association and AA Ireland.

It comes in the wake of a surge in motor insurance premiums, with domestically-owned insurer FBD the latest to suffer as crisis grips sector.

Higher levels of claims, more drivers using lawyers to seek compensation, low levels of reserving in the industry and poor investment returns for insurers have been blamed for the spike in premiums.

Michael Kilcoyne of the Consumers Association said there was a need for a new government-appointed inquiry into insurance costs.

This should consider the capping of claims amounts, examine the operations of insurers, scrutinise the role of the Central Bank, look at reserving by insurers and probe uncompetitive practices in the industry.

by Charlie Weston

See Full Story at independent.ie

Admiral defies the gloom in car insurance

3 September 2015 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user Pictures of Money

The car insurance group Admiral has shrugged off gloomy forecasts of costly claims inflation to post better-than-expected profits for the first half of the year.

Admiral said “positive claims cost development” had allowed it to release £92.6m that was set aside in previous years to cover motor accident costs, helping take its pre-tax profits up 1pc to £186.1m.

Despite rival firms complaining of a surge in injury claims, the group reported a 9.8pc drop in claims costs to £390.4m in the first six months of the year.

Like other car insurers, Admiral has been helped by the mild weather at the start of the year, which reduced accidents caused by ice and snow.

“A good start to a challenging year. Profits are up, customer numbers are up, earnings per share is up, the dividend is up … you might say it was a pretty ‘up’ first half!” said Henry Engelhardt, Admiral’s outgoing chief executive.

“The UK business turned in a very solid result helped by positive claims cost development, with modest growth accompanying price increases.”

Cardiff-based Admiral continued to add customers, taking the total number of people on its books from 4.05 million to 4.19 million. The firm took in revenues of £1.06bn, up £20m on a year ago.

The company has concentrated its efforts on attracting customers with a lower risk of claiming, despite these drivers paying lower premiums.

Nevertheless, prices are expected to rise over the next year. David Stevens, who will take over as chief executive next May, said that bodily injury claims were now back to the levels seen before a Government crackdown on legal fees in 2013.

by Marion Dakers

See Full Story on telegraph.co.uk

Call for official inquiry into motor insurance

1 September 2015 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user Paul Hamilton

The Government has been called on to set up a broad-based inquiry into the insurance market in a bid to cut the spiralling cost of premiums.

The inquiry would be similar to the Motor Insurance Advisory Board, which reported in 2002 and made 67 radical recommendations.

That led to the setting up of the Injuries Board and brought lower insurance premiums.

The call for an inquiry to shake-up the insurance market was made by the Consumers Association and AA Ireland.

It comes in the wake of a surge in motor insurance premiums, with domestically-owned insurer FBD the latest to suffer as crisis grips sector.

Higher levels of claims, more drivers using lawyers to seek compensation, low levels of reserving in the industry and poor investment returns for insurers have been blamed for the spike in premiums.

by Charlie Weston

See Full Story on independent.ie

Esure set to raise premiums after motor insurance profits fall 80%

27 August 2015 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user Leap Kye

The company behind Sheilas’ Wheels and Go Compare says it has been affected by an increase in the frequency of small personal injury claims

Esure, owner of Sheilas’ Wheels and Go Compare, has said it is planning to raise premiums after a surge in small injury claims helped push half-year profits in its motor insurance underwriting business down by four-fifths.

The company said trading profit for that area of its business was down 80.7% to £3.3m as it was “impacted by claims inflation, in particular the market increase in the frequency of small personal injury claims”. Its shares dropped nearly 9% as the fall contributed to a 21% slide in underlying pre-tax profits for the first six months of the year to £46.5m.

Stuart Vann, Esure’s chief executive, said: “The claims environment in the motor market continues to deteriorate and as a consequence we will seek to implement further rate increases in the second half.”

Esure acknowledged that increasing premiums might cost it customers. The group has more than 1.4 million motor insurance policies and about 570,000 in home insurance.

Vann’s comments about increasing car premiums come after an AA reportshowed they had risen by 5.5% across the industry in the second quarter after years of decline. It also pointed to the issue of claims inflation – more frequent claims with higher damages.

See Full Story on theguardian.com

Administering your company’s Corporate Motor Insurance Scheme

25 August 2015 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user Axion23

When you are not primarily an insurance company, administering a corporate motor insurance scheme can be a very serious challenge. This becomes even harder if you have a large fleet of company cars, in addition to a staff motor insurance scheme mediated by the company. Insurance, especially when handling claims, can be such a hustle for someone who is primarily in Administration, Finance, Procurement, or HR, depending on the company. We have prepare a small cheat sheet that can help you to take charge of your company’s motor Insurance Scheme and give you that satisfaction of being “on top of things” Here is the list

1. Take Charge!

The number one cause of stress for employees who manage motor vehicle insurance issues is lack of clarity on who is in charge of what. The process of coordinating motor insurance concerns usually involves at least all the departments we listed above, and depending on the organization, the person who is in charge may be in any one these departments. If you are involved in the process but it is unclear who exactly is in charge, then you have two options. First, you can decide to seek clarity from your boss as to where the buck stops when it comes to the company’s motor insurance scheme. If your boss doesn’t know, you may be in trouble, but work towards clarifying who is in charge of it. The second option is to take charge. Many workers fear additional responsibilities and then go ahead to waste good energy scheming how to avoid the work. If you take charge of it, officially or otherwise, you will have control over it and it will make it easier to administer the scheme.

2. Draw a Map

Secondly, draw a process map that shows how each process should be handled. If you are not into maps, you can use a list showing all steps each case goes thorough before it is resolved. Process maps (or their equivalent) can help you to figure out what needs to happen at every stage and are a good way of measuring your progress down the line. The only predictable thing when it comes to insurance is when you need to pay your premiums. You can never plan when to make claims because they result from accidental events. A process map will make you ready to handle any unforeseen situation with clarity, and without the need to figure out everything each time something happens.

3. Use Checklists

The beauty of everything in insurance is that the processes used by insurance companies are very well mapped out. It is possible to develop checklists to help you handle every claims process, or every motor insurance procurement process. Checklists will help you to be certain that you have done everything required, and you will not need to spend time thinking through every process you need handle. For instance, you may have all the documents needed to file an application for motor insurance cover committed to memory. If you do not translate that to a checklist, you may miss one of the important documents simply because you have no method of verifying that you have filed all documents. Then again, since you don’t fill these forms on a daily basis, it is easy to forget a small detail in the forms. A checklist will eliminate all the stress you may experience in such situations.

See Full Story on capitalfm.co.ke

Importance of having a Travel Insurance

24 August 2015 By Alex Tan Leave a Comment

While travelling in overseas country is an enjoyable experience, many travellers tend to neglect the importance of having a travel insurance especially the younger people, thinking that nothing could go wrong and everything is going to be fine. However, risks are always present and there will be times when these risks are beyond our control.

Below is the list of common risks that might occur to you during our travel experience:

1. Cancellation/Postpone of flight/Travel Misconnection

There may be times, due to unforeseen circumstances, that results to cancelling or postponing our trips. Such example could be a recent death of your family member at home, or cases like the bombing incident in Bangkok, where it might not be a good time to travel. It will be a loss if you are not able to get the refund. However, travel insurance allows for such trip cancellation or postponement Hence, it will not only save your worries but also save your money. Besides that, there is also compensation for travel misconnection, if the flight is delayed exceeding 6 hours.

2. Medical coverage

Despite having different climates in different countries, some people have a hard time of adapting the change of weather and may fall sick when they arrive at their destination. Travel insurance has medical coverage for medical expenses incurred overseas. The recent MERs case in Korea could be an example of an unforeseen risk that if struck upon, may need to seek medical attention immediately and it will definitely be costly.

3. Stolen/damage items/loss of travel documentations

Do you know that there are many professional pickpockets around you, they are fast and could steal your stuffs before you even know it. Imagine your valuables or even worst, passport is being stolen during your holiday trips. It will be difficult to deal these kind of situation. Rather than just enjoying your holiday, you end up spending more money to replace the items you have lost.

4. Baggage loss/Delay

Misplaced or delay of baggage happens all the time with most airlines and it is certainly not a happy situation to be in. In the worst case scenario, some of our baggage may get damaged.

5. Accidental damage/injury

Travelling is fun, however there is a risk that we may tend to get ourselves injured due to incidents like traffic accident. Traffic in overseas countries may not be as friendly as those in our own country and risk of accidents are always there and unavoidable. While trying to be careful is one way of reducing your risk, some accidents may just be unavoidable / unpredictable.

Why cutting corners on car insurance will end up costing you more

20 August 2015 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Back Camera — Image via Flickr user Canned Muffins

Insurers are uncovering around 4,000 fraudulent motor insurance applications every week, says trade body the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

The ABI says there were 212,000 attempted dodgy car insurance applications found in 2014, up by nearly a fifth (18%) on 2013. And it’s warning that lying on your car insurance application can lead to big trouble later on, as can relying on dodgy brokers who don’t actually insure you.

The biggest lies people tell

Failing to declare unspent motoring convictions or claims and giving a false address at a postcode in a lower risk area were common tricks that insurers exposed.

Parents insuring a car in their name which is mainly driven by their son or daughter, known as ‘fronting’, is also a regular issue. Even though it’s often well-intentioned, fronting can get you and your child in serious trouble, particularly if you ever have to make a claim.

As it’s considered as fraud, you’ll get a criminal record, not to mention an extremely hard time getting a decent car insurance quote in future.

Ghost broking

The ABI also warned motorists not to be duped by ‘ghost’ brokers, who may tempt you with the promises of much cheaper insurance.

‘Ghost broking’ scams involve illegal insurance advisers selling bogus motor insurance policies. This leaves innocent motorists driving illegally without motor insurance, facing prosecution and having their vehicle seized and crushed.

Fraudsters may buy policies from legitimate insurers using false information. They’ll then doctor them and sell them on to customers to make them look authentic.

See Full Story on home.bt.com

Work Injury Claims Procedures

19 August 2015 By Alex Tan Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user Slip Fall Lawyers

In my previous entry, I have mentioned about the changes in Workplace Injury Compensation Act (WICA), starting from 1 Jan next year. Today, I would like to focus on the procedures that employers should do during a work injury claim.

When an accident occurs, employers are required to report the accident to MOM (Ministry of Manpower) and their respective insurer. Employers will need to pay the injured all their medical leave wages and expenses that is relating to the work accident.

Some of the important keys to take note during a claim:

– If your worker is holding a Work Permit, you will need to take care of them during their stay in Singapore, including providing adequate food and accommodation. Otherwise, employer’s security bond may be forfeited.

– Employers cannot send a Work Permit Holder home against their wishes if they have an outstanding claim under the Work Injury Compensation ACT (WICA)

– Employees can still claim the compensation within 1 year of accident, even if they are no longer on a work pass.

– Even when employers are still waiting for payment from the insurance company, they must still pay the employee’s medical leave wages and medical expenses first, and get reimbursed later.

Below are the following procedures:

1. Report the accident to MOM (Ministry of Manpower) and insurer.

(At this point, employers will have to continue to pay the medical leave wages and medical expenses while MOM will send you a medical report form shortly.)

2. Send the Medical report form to the hospital or clinic

3. Receive the notice of assessment (NOA)

Employers are required to report a work-related accident to MOM if it results in death of an employee; the employee has taken more than 3 days of MC (whether consecutive or not); the employee was hospitalised for at least 24 hours.

For cases with 3 or less days of MC, employers should report the accident to MOM if employee wish to claim permanent incapacity compensation.

Employers should submit the incident report via iReport within 10 days of the accident or from your employee’s 4^th day of MC or diagnosis of an occupational disease.

If employee submit more MCs, employers will also need to update the incident report.

At any point of time, employers can dispute employee’s claim whether the accident involved is work-related. Should there be a dispute, employers will have to write or send an email to the case officers with reasons and supporting evidence.

Notice of assessment (NOA) will be issued to inform employer, insurer, and the employee of the compensation payable. If no one objects, employer/insurer must pay the employee within 21 days from the date of service on the NOA. (Failure to pay compensation is an offence, punishable by a fine up to $10,000 or jail of up to 12 months, or both.)

See more information on mom.gov.sg

Insurance Agency Singapore | Commercial Insurance and Personal Insurance

No mobile device while driving

Image via Flickr user JustaMonster

Even though the amended law does not specially mention wearable technology such as Samsung Gear and Apple iWatch etc, the use of such devices could be classified as inconsiderate driving, which is an offence that carries up to $1000 fine and a six month jail term.

By Foo Cheow Ming

Driver database helps uncover 212,000 car insurance lies

Call for official inquiry into motor insurance

Admiral defies the gloom in car insurance

Call for official inquiry into motor insurance

Esure set to raise premiums after motor insurance profits fall 80%

Administering your company’s Corporate Motor Insurance Scheme

Importance of having a Travel Insurance

Why cutting corners on car insurance will end up costing you more

The biggest lies people tell

Ghost broking

Work Injury Claims Procedures

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