AZE.US
Azerbaijan is preparing to introduce new rules for compulsory car insurance that could change how accident history affects future insurance costs.
The change may make Azerbaijan’s car insurance system more personal and harder to game: the cost will depend less on whose name is on the policy and more on who actually drives – and how.
Until now, compulsory car insurance contracts were generally tied to the vehicle owner. That meant if another person drove the car under a power of attorney and caused an accident, the negative insurance history could still be reflected under the owner’s personal identification record.
As a result, the owner could face higher insurance payments in the following year, even if they were not driving at the time of the accident.
Insurance expert Emil Aghabaghirov told Xəzər Xəbər that the new system will calculate the negative accident history based on the PIN code of the driver found responsible for the crash.
In practical terms, if a vehicle is owned by one person but driven by another under authorization, the insurance consequences of an accident should be linked to the actual at-fault driver.
According to the new rules, a driver who causes an accident may pay about 30% more for compulsory insurance the following year.
Another change concerns vehicles used by several authorized drivers. At present, some car owners prefer to issue the insurance contract in the name of the person with the highest bonus or discount history.
Under the new rules, that loophole may become less useful. If several people are authorized to drive the same vehicle, the system will take into account the driver with the worst accident history when calculating the insurance cost.
The reform effectively makes car insurance more driver-focused. Ownership of the vehicle will still matter, but the record of the person actually using the car will become more important.
For vehicle owners, the change could offer protection from being penalized for another person’s accident. For drivers using cars under power of attorney, it means crashes may now follow them more directly in the insurance system.
The new compulsory car insurance rules are scheduled to come into force on June 16.
AZE.US