Insurance Companies

By Gezim Kasapolli

Hello and welcome. From the studios of UN Radio in Kosovo I am….

Seeing the streets overcrowded with cars, this is considered normal in Kosovo. According to official statistics, there are more then 200.000 cars driving the roads and highways of Kosovo. As a result accidents are very frequent and during the first seven months of 2004, more then 4000 traffic accidents were reported.

Sound of the cars and an ambulance

After 1999, there was chaos in streets of Kosovo. Thousands of cars came from all around Europe and most of them were not insured, a fact that only made traffic accidents more problematic. But, in the last five years – at least eight insurance companies have sprung up - giving Kosovars options for coverage.

Until recently most companies dealt with third party liability insurance which is mandatory for all Kosovan drivers. Third Party Liability means that only the victim of the accident is reimbursed for damages caused. Mahmut Berisha works as an evaluator with one insurance carrier. His job is to complete an initial overview of an accident, as he explains:

Berisha

“This is one of the procedures that is followed during the evaluation of the damage, this is only one segment that includes recording of the damage, compilation of the report and taking pictures of the damaged vehicle.”

After this initial “overview” phase, insurance evaluators continue the process of gathering all the necessary documentation to open a case. The case is then presented before a damage director who insures that the client is entitled to the premium. This is standard operating procedure for most insurance carriers assessing auto accidents in Kosovo.

Ylli Koshi, is damage director for Dukagjini Insurance.

Koshi

“First, the damage evaluator completes the evaluation and photographs the damaged parts, including them in a report, which he presents to us. This report also includes additional documents such as police reports, which concern the damaged part, as well as the request explaining why he requires us to honor his premium. Then we check his insurance coverage. The last phase is the payment of the damage.”

Although third party liability insurance is the most common type of coverage in Kosovo, most of the insurance companies have also introduced the so-called volunteer insurance coverage. Volunteer insurance simply implies coverage that is not mandatory. But, this coverage is less prevalent in Kosovo because less people are familiar with it, this according to Riza Byci director of Dukagjini who adds –its harder to properly promote insurance coverage people are less familiar with.

Byci

“During the first couple of years in our business, we mainly dealt with car insurance. During mid 2003, in July we started with other types of volunteer insurance, as we call them. Volunteer insurance includes insurance in case of fire and additional risks, CASCO car insurance, insurance for persons in case of accidents, insurance of buildings, insurance for professional responsibility and insurance of guarantees.”

Banking Payment Authority, or BPK, is the highest authority in Kosovo’s insurance business, and is responsible for the licensing insurance carriers in Kosovo. But, one of BPK’s main duties is to assist clients when they have disputes with insurance companies. Hashim Rexhepi is the Chief Supervision Officer with BPK. He is responsible for mediating in such cases.

Rexhepi

“Clients have the right in cases when they are not satisfied with the evaluation of the insurance company to approach BPK, which is the higher authority. BPK helps the client not in the sense of making final decisions related to an issue but by bringing the concerned parties together, the client and the insurance company, in order to find the solution.”

The solution in this case often means court settlements – and in very rare cases – these settlements are agreed on out of court. According to BPK, these represent only five percent of total settlements.

One of the main problems that Insurance companies are dealing with is the fact that Kosovo is a small market. Eight companies have a hard time with such a small market share – which is the main reason why some are trying to expand their business abroad. Again Riza Byci director of Dukagjini Insurance.

Byci

“Considering that this is a very small market, we have undertaken some concrete steps and lately after many difficulties we managed to get a license in the Albanian market, where we paid the necessary amount of money and after 18 months we got an operating license. However, considering that the Albanian market is also small in the future we hope to expand our business to the Macedonian market.”

Despite all the difficulties that insurance companies face their importance is enormous in creating a safer environment for Kosovars who rely on their cars for many daily tasks.

And this concludes the today’s edition of UN radio in Kosovo. Thanks for listening and stay tuned for more.