An Urgent Message about Auto Insurance in Panama
VIP INSURANCEwas notified by the Insurance Companies and the Transit Authority that the transit police and the National Police will be joining efforts so all information on auto insurance policies will be inserted in the PELE POLICE PORTABLE DEVICE (Portable computer with data and info on auto insurance policy). Police officers will stop drivers and check their mandatory insurance policy status, so please make sure your auto insurance is up-to-date and is readily available for spot checks.
Drivers, who do not have a valid insurance policy, will appear in the verification system of the National Police (Police Pele), which will not allow them to drive through the streets of the country, according to an initiative being conducted by the Ground Transport and Transit Authority ( ATTT)
If the idea - which has already been consulted at an early meeting with members of the Panamanian Association of Insurers (Apadea) - materializes, there will be a database that will allow police officers to check whether the cars have valid premiums.
Jorge Ricardo Fabrega, ATTT director, explained that it seeks to ensure that vehicle owners comply with the provisions of traffic regulations, including the care that people who are injured in accident, must receive.
The paragraph G of Article 77 of that law states that vehicles must have Civil liability insurance for damages to third parties as a requirement for the registration certificate. However, the system as it operates right now, allows car owners to buy insurance to qualify for the vehicle registration certificate and then lose them in default of payment.
Carlos Berguido, Apadepa executive secretary, said it is necessary to find ways to ensure vehicles have coverage. One of the formulas, Berguido said, is forcing drivers to prepay their premiums in full. He said that ATTT, as lead agency of transit policy, plays a key role in developing the system, because it is the department that makes the rules and enforces them.
Some 800,000 cars make up the country's vehicle fleet, according to numbers from the General Comptroller of the Republic.
