KUWAIT: The Insurance Regulatory Unit has suspended a recent decision to raise vehicle insurance fees in Kuwait. The decision will be postponed pending further coordination with the interior ministry, the unit said in a statement on Thursday. Kuwait’s Insurance Regulatory Unit approved a host of decisions last week, including raising the annual insurance for private vehicles from KD 19 to a minimum of KD 32 from April 16, 2023. The committee had approved amending the rates of the mandatory insurance policy following the development of an integrated electronic car registration system.

The system was created in cooperation with the ministry of interior, insurance and brokerage companies. The committee also set the period for receiving compensation to be within a maximum of 10 working days from the date of completion of the insurance claim. The insurance policy for private cars and motorcycles with non-Kuwaiti license plates entering through the borders was to be valued under the proposed system at KD 12 per week or KD 120 per year, with KD 20 per week or KD 140 per year for taxis; KD 16 per week or KD 183 per year for public transport vehicles; and KD 30 per week or KD 210 per year for cargo vehicles.

The premium increases by KD 1 per passenger, in addition to KD 2 control fees. The document specifies the depreciation rates for spare parts to be zero percent in the first year of manufacture until the end of June of that year for private cars. The rate amounts to five percent until the end of December of the year of manufacture, 10 percent for the second year, 20 percent for the third, 30 percent for the fourth, and 50 percent for the fifth year and beyond.

According to a statement by the unit last week, the new system obligates qualified insurance companies and the brokers to issue a unified insurance policy, and it is not permissible to amend the form of the unified insurance policy or add any appendices to it unless it is in favor of the insured or the beneficiary, while the form attached to this decision is considered an integral part of it.