Bhagwandeen:
Have special courts for insurance claims
By
Susan Mohammed
Story Created:
Sep 27, 2012 at 11:01 PM ECT
Story Updated:
Sep 27, 2012 at 11:01 PM ECT
PRESIDENT general of the Trinidad and Tobago Insurance Claimants Association, Nanan Bhagwandeen, has called on Chief Justice Ivor Archie to appoint special courts to deal with insurance claims and clear a backlog of cases.
Bhagwandeen said a high percentage of actions listed for trial were insurance claims, according to information given to him by the Registry of the Supreme Court.
Bhagwandeen said: "The appointment of special courts will greatly help in relieving the heavy burden of claimants who have been waiting in some cases for four to five years in order to get their insurance matters adjudicated upon."
He said he had received hundreds of reports from the public, regarding "the attitude of unscrupulous insurance companies using frivolous defences against injured parties".
Bhagwandeen suggested in a statement that some companies, "deliberately use the courts to put pressure on claimants who cannot afford the high cost of litigation and as a result cajole and force the injured party to accept a paltry sum in full settlement".
He appealed for the Insurance Act to be revised and ammended, to make it compulsory for all companies to settle claims in an expeditious and justifiable manner.
"It is unfair for citizens to be paying high premiums for various types of insurance and not get adequate service and prompt settlement when desired," said Bhagwandeen.
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