At the meeting of the Working Group on Review of Insurance Business and Financial Market Development Council at the Ministry of Finance, the postulate contained in the interpellation of MP Bozena Szydlowska regarding partial financing of the units of the Volunteer Fire Brigade and the State Fire Service by insurance was evaluated critically.
All participants supported PIU’s arguments indicating that the insurance market bears the costs of funding the State Fire Services anyway. The State Fire Service receives 10 percent of contributions from the fire insurance for the purposes indicated in the interpellation. In the last 20 years the State Fire Service has received 500 million PLN from insurance market. Additionally, last year the State Fire Service received from preventive funds, only from one insurance company, about 1 million PLN. Moreover, the accident statistics show that over the last ten years their number has decreased. In 1997, there were 66.5 thousand of accidents, while in 2007 – only 49.5 thousand, causing a significant drop in fire brigade intervention.
The option of subsidizing the fire services from motor insurance is also not used in the European Union countries.
The preparation within RRRF works on systemic solutions preventing third party liability insurance policies from parataxes and recourses for various budgetary entities and public officials was also discussed at the meeting.
In the light of information on court decision that gives police the right to recourse against the insurer the cost of benefits, which by law the Police received for a policeman injured in the accident, all participants in the meeting on RRRF supported the arguments of PIU opposing to the introduction of the next “Religa tax” burden on insurance.
Participants of the meeting supported the position of the PIU on the need to restore the Police powers to exclude a vehicle, which is uninsured or whose driver does not carry a confirmation of MTPL, from traffic and to keep the vehicle’s registration certificate. Proposal to limit the liberalization of the Law on Road Traffic in terms of the Police power, according to the participants of the meeting will help to maintain the universality of the compulsory motor third party liability insurance.
At the meeting PIU presented the actions it has performed for quite a long time on a direct claim settlement. The first result which PU managed to acomplish is an agreement conluded last week on recourse settlement. The Association predicts continuation of works aiming at standardization of the insurance market. In the first place the works will regard transport insurance. PIU indicated the need to conclude a voluntary agreement of insurance companies on the introduction of direct claims. The introduction of such system will be preceded by an analysis of source materials about the solutions operating in the European Union, made by the PIU Motor Insurance Commission, and followed by a recommendation of the best possible system for the Polish market.
Participants of the meeting acknowledged Association’s information about their works and recognize that they are sufficient for this preparatory stage of the system of direct claims. It was assumed that the current advancement of preparations for the implementation of the system does not require the involvement of the RRRF forum nor any additional action such as statutory regulations.
