Hauliers versus Insurers

The cost of the mandatory liability insurance for car owners will decrease following a protest by Romanian truckers

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Corina Cristea, 16.09.2016, 14:34

As a result of the market liberalisation Romania committed itself to as early as 2007, the mandatory liability insurance for car owners grew by as much as 2.5 times compared to the first quarter of 2015. This is about to change, following a massive protest by road hauliers, who have obtained from the Financial Supervisory Authority the promise that the insurance fee will be calculated differently in the future. Thus, the most expensive insurance policy, that for high tonnage trucks, will not exceed the equivalent in lei of some 1,700 euros, down from 4,500 euros at the moment.

After a meeting between hauliers and the Financial Supervisory Authority, it was established that the factors that will be taken into account when calculating reference fees for the mandatory liability insurance will be frequency of claims and average damage, as well as their trends, the charge for administrative costs, a maximum of 25% fee purchase and the charge for the application of the bonus-malus system. Prior to this agreement, truckers staged a large-scale protest in Bucharest and tens of other cities in Romania despite a government emergency ordinance freezing mandatory liability insurance fees for 6 months at a level to be announced by the Financial Supervisory Authority within a month at the most.

The negotiations held with the government had not established, however, the compensation ceiling, and it was uncertainty over this issue that made truckers take to the streets until they reached an agreement with the Financial Supervisory Authority. Working groups will be created to come up with the reference fees, a process that will also involve hauliers’ associations. Once these aspects are established, the agreed fees will only have to be approved by the Competition Council and the Government in order to come into effect.

While an agreement was yet to be reached between hauliers and the Financial Supervisory Authority, president Klaus Iohannis had called on the institutions with responsibilities in the field to resume dialogue with hauliers and insurance companies to resolve the situation and find a long-term solution to the hauliers’ problems.

(Translated by Cristina Mateescu)