Car accidents are quite common in Thai lands. In fact, statistics imply that over sixty thousand accidents occur annually, and you’re facing a risk of being in one regardless of how great your driving skills are. Taxis are barging in from all sides, motorcycles are cutting lanes from various angles, and even the busses are speeding quite often – that being said, it might be time to consider level 1 car insurance referred to as ประกันรถยนต์ชั้น1 in Thai.
What are your options?
While in Thailand, you have two options at your disposal. You can either go with Compulsory Third Party Liability or Private insurance types.
CTPL
The first (Compulsory 3rd party liability) is also referred to as the Por-Ror-Bor, and what makes it so characteristic is the fact that it’s mandatory for all Thailand registered vehicles. You’ll need to renew it annually, and failing to do so might result in legal repercussions. It provides the most basic death or/and injury-related road accidents coverage.
This insurance type covers limited medical expenses, being 80000 baht in the case of injury, and 300000 baht in the case of death (all under the presumption that it’s not your fault, of course). The premiums you’ll be entitled to receive will be cut short to 30000 baht in case of injury or 35000 baht in case of death should you happen to be the cause of the accident.
The registration fee for CTPL insurance is approximately 650 baht annually. The good thing about this car insurance type is that you’re entitled to claim the premiums directly from the hospitals you’re residing in (at hospital cashiers). If for any reason, you don’t wish to do it that way, you can be reimbursed by the insurance company via the medical receipt.
Private Insurance
Private insurance provides an increased coverage when compared to CTPL. Even the most basic and cheapest of private insurance plans are superior to basic Por-Ror-Bor. The tricky part about private insurance is that there are plenty of ways to go about it.
There are three types of coverage you’ll be able to choose from, and the coverage includes:
- One-party accidents. The Type 1 car insurance covers those accidents that occurred without the involvement of third parties. As school book examples, such situations are hitting a dog, scratching any object or structure, tree crashing, and such.
- Collision. All car insurance types cover collisions. Based on your private insurance type, collisions will pay different premiums.
- Medical expenses. Just like with collisions, all types include premiums for medical expenses which vary based on your insurance plan.
- Theft. Not one car insurance type will be able to grant you 100% of the money back in case you’re robbed, but you can hope for 70-80% based on the age of your vehicle.
- Fire/Flood. Fires, floods, and other natural disasters are covered by most car insurance types, but you’re only entitled to get reimbursed for the part that you haven’t faulted.