Car insurance doesn’t usually cover typhoon damage

Dozens of people have been filing, or at least trying to file, for claims in various insurance companies on the island following the destruction of properties due to Typhoon Soudelor.

Among the most inquired property for claims are damaged cars, which are quite a common sight on the island today.

Unfortunately, most cars, if not all, are not covered by their insurance policies for damage caused by a typhoon.

“Unless they really inquired about this, chances are, they have no cover for typhoon,” Gol Cruz, general manager for Century Insurance Co., said.

According to three of the insurance companies on island—Century Insurance Co., Calvo’s Insurance, and AON Insurance—car insurance doesn’t automatically cover damage incurred because of a typhoon and that most of their clients don’t have typhoon coverage.

“You have to pay extra premium to cover that,” Corpuz said.

While damage caused by earthquakes and falling objects may be covered by a comprehensive or “full coverage” car insurance, Corpuz said that typhoons are “more risky,” that’s why it’s not included.

“There’s a separate premium for that under the current tariff,” Corpuz said. “The tariff is regulated by the insurance commissioner so you can say that you cannot deviate from that. The fact that they have separate premium for typhoons, it means its optional cover rather than mandatory. It is not automatic.”

Corpuz said some of their clients were surprised that they don’t have coverage but that “policies state very clearly that typhoons are not included.”

He said insurance coverage for typhoon costs 20 to 30 percent more than those without coverage.

However, Corpuz said car damage claims “might fall under property, depending on how the policy is written.” This could happen if cars or vehicles are stated as part of one’s property.

Building insurance

Aside from cars, claims for buildings for residential and commercial are also being filed.

“We’re still assessing, collating damage that were inflicted by Typhoon Soudelor,” Calvo’s general manager Eli Buenaventura said, adding that they’ve been calling their clients one by one and that they will be visiting to check on the damage.

“We are ready to pay. We are looking for ways to pay. We’re not looking for denial,” he added.

CIC said about two dozen have already filed claims with them.

“It could increase as days go by. We understand people are still trying to regroup themselves in this aftermath, trying to fix whatever they could fix, then later on they might file a claim,” Corpuz said.

Asked if they have an estimate on how much the total claims would amount to, the companies said they don’t have it yet.

“I don’t have an estimate yet,” AON’s senior underwriter Tom Bernardo said.

“We’re talking about millions here. Right now we cannot determine exactly,” Corpuz said.