The Land Transportation Office (LTO), in close coordination with the Insurance Commission, is now pushing for aggressive policy reforms on motor vehicle insurance, particularly on the Comprehensive Third Party Liability (CTPL).

LTO chief Assistant Secretary Atty. Vigor D. Mendoza II said the recent dialogue they had with the team of Insurance Commission head Atty. Reynaldo Regalado was held on Tuesday where the urgency of the policy reforms was agreed upon, especially in light of the truck incident at the Katipunan Flyover in Quezon City last month that left four people dead and more than 20 others injured.

During the meeting between Mendoza and top Insurance Commission officials, the long period of time before insurance claims on CTPL are released was discussed.

In most cases, Mendoza said that motorists do not even bother to check on CTPL in cases of accidents, which prompted motorists to believe that the CTPL they are paying for as a requirement for vehicle registration and renewal is useless.

“The common belief is that this CTPL is useless. We have already come to the point that this is being taken for granted, which means motor vehicle owners are paying for it simply because it is a requirement for motor vehicle registration and renewal,” Mendoza said.

“Under the guidance of our Transport Secretary Jaime J. Bautista, we want to change this perception among motor vehicle owners; we want to make this relevant,” he added.

In the meeting, Mendoza revealed that two important matters were discussed — first is the need to increase the benefits in cases of motor vehicle accidents.

In the case of the Katipunan Flyover truck accident last month, only P200,000 was released for all the victims — which also means that the amount will be divided among the four people who died and the more than 20 others who were injured.

For Mendoza, the amount is too small to cover the necessary expenses for the fatalities and the hospitalization and medication for those who suffered serious injuries.

During a press briefing at the LTO Central Office on Wednesday, Pasang Masda president Obet Martin said they already sent a letter to the Insurance Commission last year which calls for the increase of benefits under CTPL.

Mendoza, for his part, said part of the discussion with the Insurance Commission was to find ways to ensure that the increase in the benefits will not impact the cost of the premium to the point that it is no longer affordable to ordinary motor vehicle owners.

Mendoza said the proposal of Senator Raffy Tulfo to include property damage in the CTPL was also included in the discussion including the timeliness of the release of the insurance payment.