Third party insurance policy to be revised

Mbarara. The motor third party insurance policy is undergoing a revision in order to widen its scope of coverage and upscale the compensation limit to the victims.
The current compensation limit for the third party policy is only Shs1m and it has been standing unrevised since 1989 when the policy act was enacted; much as Shs1m had value then, under the current circumstances, it is not enough to cater for a modest medical care and is considered too meagre to tally with the development demands of the insurance industry.
Against that background, local institutional actors in the insurance industry are proposing a plan to have the policy limit increased to at least between Shs5m to Shs10m to appropriately cater for risks associated with third party property damage and bodily injuries, according to Mr Ronald Zake, the president governing council of the Insurance Institute of Uganda.
Optimistically, the new policy review in question is expected to be in effect by the end of this year or early next year.
“We are having engagements between different stakeholders like IIU, Uganda Insurers Association as well as the Insurance Regulatory Authority and discussions are underway to increase the compensation levels to appropriate it to the development requirements of the time,” he said.
Mr Zake was recently speaking to the media on the sidelines of an awareness campaign engagement held in Mbarara to specifically sensitize transporters in Western Uganda on matters of insurance, this being part of the institute’s nationwide awareness agenda.
He reiterated the need to engage government protesting against the 18%Value Added Tax and Shs35,000 stamp duty imposed on some policies, reasoning that if these taxes are waived like in Kenya and South Africa, it could increase the uptake of insurance and penetration especially on the micro insurance segment.

Counterfeit third party stickers
Mr Saul Sseremba, the institute’s chief executive Officer, revealed that the stakeholders have been moving around the country to teach the users and the insurers how to detect counterfeit stickers.
He noted that they are also sensitising police officers how to detect the fake stickers.