Leading taxi insurance provider scrapped all policies - Analysis and insurance options (Updated 7/1) The leading taxi insurance provider in Hong Kong announced without preceding warning that it would scrap all policies after seven days. In other words, approximately 75% of the current taxi insurance policies will be terminated. If drivers affected by this change fail to find a suitable insurance company to take over their policies within this time, they may be prohibited from driving. Many drivers are puzzled and worried about losing their livelihood with their insurance being suddenly scrapped. Relevant sources estimated that more than 550,000 passengers and 25,000 taxi drivers may be affected every day. These drivers will lose a total of $44 million in business each day. In today's Kwiksure feature, our experts will analyze the ins and outs of this incident, study the dilemma faced by the taxi insurance business and feasible solutions. ---------------------------------------------------- (Updated 7/1) This morning, the Insurance Authority (IA) announced that it will take over the business and assets of Target Insurance, and will hold a press conference in the afternoon to elaborate. - Through regulatory work and market intelligence, the IA found that Target Insurance’s investment activities and fund allocation may have violated the requirements of the Insurance Ordinance. With the company's internal governance also lacking, the Authority exercised its rights on the grounds of public interest to appoint Deloitte’s Touche Tohmatsu as the manager to maintain the normal operations of Target Insurance. - Deloitte will review and assess the current asset status of Target Insurance to obtain a full picture of the company's future direction. - The solvency of Target Insurance has been poor. The IA has previously imposed additional regulatory requirements on the company, including additional statutory deposits and restrictions on the use and deployment of its assets. - The situation is a special case as four insurers need to process 8,000 policies in a short period of time. If the insurers fail to complete the policy issuance process before the policy cancellation deadline, they can make a 30-day mortgage arrangement, or postpone the submission of some documents, so that they can provide insurance coverage without fully issuing new policies. This is to avoid hindrance to the taxi industry. - Since Tuesday, the IA has taken the lead in coordinating, so that taxi owners do not need to inquire about the premium by themselves, so as to facilitate the transfer to insurers that still have capacity. - As of this morning, policies for approximately 7,894 taxis have been diverted to the four insurance companies. ----------------------------------------------------
