Insuran Kemalangan Kenderaan: Menyenangkan atau Menyusahkan?
Hari ini dalam akhbar thestar online dibincangkan mengenai perlindungan insurans kenderaan berusia 5 tahun dan ke atas dan terlibat dengan kemalangan.
Tahukah anda bahawa peraturan Bank Negara bahawa bagi kenderaan berusia 5 tahun dan ke atas yang terlibat dengan kemalangan, peralatan ganti yang harus digunakan ialah samada ia baru atau barangan terpakai? Aku pun baru tahu ni.
Pun begitu, bagi alat ganti baru, pengguna atau pemilik kenderaan sendiri perlu menanggung sendiri "betterment charges" iaitu pihak insurans hanya akan menanggung nilai alat ganti "second hand" atau "used parts" itu ataupun nilai qualiti alat ganti yang sama dengan kenderaan berusia 5 tahun dan ke atas itu.
Masalah dan dilema yang dihadapi oleh pengguna atau pemilik kenderaan ialah: dipihak insurans, syaratnya adalah seperti di atas. Namun, dipihak panel bengkel pula, mereka akan menggunakan alat ganti tiruan atau "imitation parts" dan akan mendakwanya atau menuntut kadar alat ganti baru dan original. Diulangi, baru dan original!
Maka, pengguna dan pemilik kenderaan lah yang akan menanggung sengsara dan beban serampang dua mata akibat daripada strategi pengkayaan tidak berguna ini oleh pihak insurans dan taukey-taukey bengkel yang tidak bertanggungjawab.
Sewajarnya kerajaan mengambil langkah lebih tegas dan proaktif ke atas pemilik-pemilik kedai alat ganti atau bengkel membaiki kenderaan yang tidak berhati perut ini. Kesalahan atau cemuhan tidak wajar 100% diletakkan ke atas penganggung insurans semata-mata sungguhpun strategi perniagaan yang mereka pakai adalah bersifat capitalist amalan komunisme. Apalah gunanya pengguna atau pemilik insurans membayar jumlah premium yang tinggi dan saban tahun meningkat jika terlibat dengan kemalangan, namun perlu mengeluarkan wang yang banyak bagi membaiki kenderaan mereka sungguhpun ada kalanya kemalangan itu bukan atas sebab kecuaian sendiri.
Kita sedia maklum bahawa negara Malaysia tercinta ini terlalu banyak dibanjiri oleh barang-barang tiruan termasuk melibatkan alat ganti kenderaan, hatta di pasaraya besar sekalipun kita boleh menjumpai barang-barang tiruan ini dijual dengan harga jauh lebih murah berbanding di bengkel atau kedai alat ganti kenderaan sendiri. Lebih mengecewakan, pihak-pihak berkenaan mengaut keuntungan berlipat kali ganda dengan mendakwa bahawa alat ganti mereka adalah 200% original (tak cukup kalau kata 100% saja kerana tiada orang percaya).
Lebih malang lagi jika sekiranya kemalangan yang berlaku adalah akibat daripada kerosakan atau kegagalan alat ganti tiruan yang sangat "fragile" dan mudah rosak ini. Dulu, aku pernah diberitahu oleh seorang kawan bahawa bengkel yang mempunyai regular returning customer adalah mangsa yang paling senang ditipu dengan peralatan ganti tiruan ini kerana mereka tetap akan datang ke bengkel berkenaan sekiranya alat itu rosak. Dan, disebalik mendakwa barangan mereka adalah original, mereka akan terus menggantikan alat tersebut dan caj pelanggan itu dengan harga yang mahal. Bukankah ini amalan komunis yang tidak berhati perut dan mengaut keuntungan berlipat kali ganda dengan cara tidak bertanggungjawab?
Untuk maklumat lanjut, sila baca laporan akhbar thestar berkenaan seperti di bawah:-
Friday October 19, 2012
More repair charges for vehicles over five years old
PETALING JAYA: If you own a car over five years old and get into an accident, be prepared to be squeezed by both insurance companies and workshops, resulting in you having to pay more or settle for poor quality spare parts.
Insurance companies stipulate that replacement parts should not be new and should be used originals of about the same age as the vehicle.
New spares are only fixed if the owners agree to pay a “betterment” charge which is usually between 5% and 40% of the price of the replacements.
Motor workshops are exploiting this condition by installing imitations and passing them off as new or original used parts.
The owners have to dish out the difference between what the insurance companies are willing to pay and what the workshops charge.
Of the 9,721,447 cars on the road, 1,984,140 are over five years old.
The experience of a 36-year-old sports league operations manager is typical.
Shamim Imran was unaware of the replacement parts clause when he sent his 12-year-old Proton Satria GTi for repairs after it was damaged in an attempted carjacking last month.
Having taken up a comprehensive insurance policy, he thought his entire repair bill would be taken care of.
Instead, the insurance company only approved RM5,000 for the workshop to replace his car’s ignition, alarm system and steering wheel.
“But I learnt that non-original parts would be fixed in my car. If I wanted originals, I had to top up 40% as betterment charges,” he said.
He said his insurance company agreed with the panel workshop.
“According to them, Bank Negara rules allowed parts of vehicles 10 years old and above to be replaced with non-original makes.
“I was baffled. I thought the insurance would make good on any claim of damage,” Shamim said, adding that several of his friends got similar deals from their panel workshops.
Ahninaroah Mohd Noor from Kuala Lipis said that her panel workshop fitted her eight-year-old Proton Wira with imitations after an accident that damaged the front bumper, headlights, radiator and water tank.
“I was given RM4,000 for the repairs. When the car returned from the workshop it looked fine,” said the 29-year-old teacher.
But she noticed that the newly-fixed Proton logo began to fade after a few days.
“When I shook the front bumper, it fell off. I realised that I had been given imitation parts,” said Ahninaroah, who complained to the insurance company which never resolved the matter.
“I ended up having to replace it with an original at my own expense.”
Friday October 19, 2012
Bank Negara: Use original or used parts only
PETALING JAYA: Bank Negara guidelines state that collision repairs for insured vehicles aged five years and above must involve original or used parts.
It states that “betterment charges” would apply only if the motorist wanted new original parts fixed.
A bank spokesman said the maximum amount that would be approved to cover collision damages for such vehicles would be the amount needed to restore the vehicle to its pre-accident condition.
“So if a five-year-old car is brought to a panel workshop, the operator may use second-hand parts of equivalent quality of a five-year-old car,” said the spokesman, who said imitation parts cannot be used.
Section A(2) of the Private Motor Car Policy Act states that the maximum amount that will be covered for repairs involving such vehicles is the market value of the vehicle at the time of the accident, or the sum insured in the policy, whichever is lower.
If the vehicle is insured for a sum less than its market value, the claimant would be considered as being the insurer for the difference and shall bear the loss accordingly.
Clause (G) stipulates that the maximum amount to be covered shall be the expenses necessary to restore the vehicle to as near its pre-accident condition as possible.
If new original parts are used, the claimant must bear the “betterment” portion of the original part replaced, in accordance with Bank Negara guidelines.
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