The following is a case study published in OFS Annual report:
Max was involved in an accident with Brian, and Brian was found to be the driver at fault. Max claimed compensation for the loss of use of his vehicle, also referred to as the ‘Compensation for Assessed Repair Time’ (CART).
The insurer offered RM680 for CART at a rate of RM40/day for 17 days. However, Max was unsatisfied with the insurer’s offer and claimed 88 days.
OUR FINDINGS
Max’s vehicle has a cubic capacity of 1998 cc, and thus, the insurer is liable to pay RM40/day according to the scale for CART, which provides as follows:
“3. The number of days for computation of CART shall be based on the independent loss adjuster’s recommendation on the number of days for repair of the damaged vehicle subject to the insurers’ discretion to apply an additional seven working days grace period for unforeseen delays.”
Max’s insurer’s loss adjuster recommended ten (10) days as the estimated repair period. This repair period will exclude delays before and/or after the repair time. The insurer exercised their discretion by adding another seven days grace period for unforeseen delays in their assessment for CART.
This increased the CART period from 10 to 17 days. We note that Condition 3 of the Scale of CART granted the additional seven days.
However, Max was still dissatisfied with the claim, and he approached his insurer and contended that the estimated repair period was insufficient to repair his vehicle. His insurer’s loss adjuster reviewed the matter and revised the repair period to 40 days.
OUTCOME
The insurer revised their CART offer of RM1,600 at a rate of RM40/day for 40 days, and Max accepted the new offer.