The Thai General Insurance Association joins forces with member companies to help policyholders affected by the revocation of Sinmankong Insurance PCL’s license.
Dr. Somporn Suebthavilkul, President of the Thai General Insurance Association, revealed that from the joint press conference with the Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) and the General Insurance Fund on the implementation of the protection of the benefits of the insured in the case that the Minister of Finance has ordered the revocation of the general insurance business license of Sin Mun Kong Insurance Public Company Limited since July 4, 2024 onwards, which has affected those who have insurance that is still in effect, the Thai General Insurance Association has therefore coordinated with member companies of the association to join the ‘Project to Mitigate the Impact on Insureds with Insurance Contracts with Sin Mun Kong Insurance Public Company Limited’ to help insureds to receive continuous protection from insurance policies and to build conf
idence in the general insurance business in another way.
Actions to help alleviate the impact on the insured in the event of revocation of the license to conduct non-life insurance business of Sinmankong Insurance Public Company Limited, the insured can choose to proceed in 2 cases as follows:
Case 1: The insured contacts to purchase insurance from an insurance company participating in the project (the insurance policy of Sinmankong Insurance Public Company Limited ends on the date of purchasing a new insurance policy).
The insured can use the premiums that are eligible for refund according to the remaining period instead of cash to buy a new insurance policy with the non-life insurance companies participating in the policy assistance program, which will allow the insured to pay only a portion of the premiums according to the additional coverage period, while the non-life insurance companies participating in the program will be responsible for claiming the premiums back from the Non-Life Insurance Fund.
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n this regard, policyholders with motor insurance policies and other types of insurance policies that are still in effect can apply for new insurance policies at participating insurance companies as follows:
1. The insured contacts to purchase a new insurance policy from the participating insurance company. The starting date of the new insurance policy is considered the end date of the original insurance policy (coverage period of 1 year).
2. The insurance company will calculate the premium according to the new insurance policy with a coverage period of 1 year and will calculate the premium according to the original insurance policy for the portion that is entitled to a refund according to the remaining period (the premium for the original insurance policy is calculated as the net premium, excluding taxes and duties).
3. The insured transfers the right to claim the premium refund from the Insurance Fund (according to the remaining period) to the new insurance company.
4. The insurance company collects the
premium from the insured, minus the premium that is entitled to a refund.
5. The insurance company assumes the burden of collecting the premium refund from the Insurance Fund on behalf of the insured.
Case 2: The insured can request a refund of the premium for the remaining period at the
Disaster Insurance Fund. In the event that the policyholder of Sinmankong Insurance Company does not wish to purchase any insurance policy, the insured can contact the ‘Disaster Insurance Fund’ to apply for debt repayment from September 9, 2024 to November 7, 2024 through the channels announced by the Disaster Insurance Fund. The Disaster Insurance Fund will refund the premium for the remaining period of coverage (average daily premium according to the remaining coverage). The Disaster Insurance Fund will send a letter via registered mail to notify the insured of the cancellation of all insurance policies. All insurance policies will end their coverage on September 8, 2024.
For the non-life insurance companies that partic
ipated in the project to alleviate the impact on the insured of Sinmankong Insurance Public Company Limited, there are a total of 9 companies as follows:
Bangkok Insurance Public Company Limited
Krungthai Panich Insurance Public Company Limited
Tip Insurance Public Company Limited
Thanachart Insurance Public Company Limited
Nawakit Insurance Public Company Limited
Thaivivat Insurance Public Company Limited
Mitra Tae Insurance Public Company Limited
Viriyah Insurance Public Company Limited
Ergo Insurance (Thailand) Public Company Limited
In terms of the guidelines for claiming compensation in the case of car insurance, if a car has an accident since the day that Sinmankong Insurance Public Company Limited’s license was revoked, the association has sent a letter requesting cooperation from all non-life insurance companies to comply without enforcing the contract of waiver of the right to claim compensation between insurance companies in order to alleviate the impact on the insured or the other party i
n the event of a car accident. The association requests cooperation from non-life insurance companies to proceed with the compensation management as follows:
Case 1 In the event that the insured car of Sin Mun Kong Insurance PCL is at fault,
the insurance company that insured the innocent car shall arrange for repairs or pay compensation to the insured of its own company (which is the counterparty of Sin Mun Kong Insurance PCL). It is considered as if there is no mutual waiver of rights to claim compensation (Knock for Knock Agreement) and the right to claim compensation can be directly obtained from the liquidator or the Insurance Fund. For the insured car of Sin Mun Kong Insurance PCL that is at fault, submit a request for debt payment from the Insurance Fund.
Case 2: In the event that the insured’s car with Sin Mun Kong Insurance Public Company
Limited is the innocent party, the insurance company that insures the at-fault car shall arrange for repairs or pay compensation to the insured of Sin Mun Kong
Insurance Public Company Limited who is the innocent party, as if there were no contract waiving the right to claim compensation for damages from each other.
‘The Thai General Insurance Association and the participating insurance companies are ready to provide assistance to the public and policyholders who have been affected to the best of their ability to alleviate the damages that have occurred. We would like to reiterate that the revocation of the non-life insurance business license of Sinmankong Insurance Public Company Limited will definitely not affect the financial stability or liquidity of other non-life insurance companies or the insurance business as a whole,’ the president of the Thai General Insurance Association concluded.
In this regard, citizens can inquire for more details at the OIC hotline at 1186 or the Thai General Insurance Association at 0 2108 8399 .
Source: Thai News Agency