If You Cause a Drunk Driving Accident, Car Insurance Deductible Up to 15 Million Won

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] From now on, if a driver causes a drunk driving accident, the driver's automobile insurance deductible will increase to a maximum of 15 million KRW.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 8th that it will publicly notify the draft amendment to the "Enforcement Rules of the Automobile Damage Compensation Guarantee Act," which raises the amount of compensation (accident deductible) claimed from drivers in drunk driving accidents, for 40 days starting from the 9th.

This amendment strengthens the compensation claim limit to a maximum of 15 million KRW, based on the average insurance payout per case for drunk driving accidents: 10 million KRW for bodily injury and 5 million KRW for property damage.

Currently, when a drunk driving accident occurs, insurance companies pay compensation to the victims and claim up to 3 million KRW for bodily injury and 1 million KRW for property damage from the driver.

Although this accident deductible was raised once in 2015, there have been criticisms that it is insufficient to deter drunk driving. Especially after the enactment of the "Yoon Chang-ho Act" last year, which strengthened criminal penalties for drunk drivers, calls have increased to also strengthen the civil liability of drunk drivers.

In fact, while the number of drunk driving accidents has decreased, the average insurance payout per drunk driving accident for bodily injury increased by 16.7%, from 10 million KRW in 2018 to 11.67 million KRW last year. The total insurance payout for drunk driving accidents last year reached 268.1 billion KRW.

This amendment will go through a 40-day public notice period, consultations with related ministries, and review by the Ministry of Government Legislation, and is scheduled to be promulgated in July and enforced from October.

Additionally, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to consider measures to make drivers bear the full amount of damages in drunk driving accidents.

Kim Sang-seok, Director of Automobile Management at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "We have been reviewing ways to raise the accident deductible for drunk drivers together with related agencies and experts," and added, "With this amendment to the enforcement rules, in most average drunk driving accidents, the drunk driver will bear the full amount of the accident damages."