[Getting Insurance Savvy] Accident Compensation Up to 40 Million Won... Kickboard Insurance 'In Focus'

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[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyungil] Insurance that compensates up to 40 million KRW for electric kickboard accidents is being introduced. As the number of users increases, the accident rate is also rising, and it is expected that more electric kickboard users will subscribe to insurance.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport recently prepared a shared Personal Mobility (PM) insurance standard plan that allows compensation for third parties such as pedestrians in the event of an accident involving personal mobility devices, in cooperation with the insurance industry and electric kickboard companies.

They established a standard insurance plan for kickboard rental companies and strengthened the driver's license verification process for shared PM users through an automatic driver's license verification system.

Until now, PM rental companies such as electric kickboards subscribed to different insurance products, but since the compensation amounts and coverage varied by company, it was difficult to provide appropriate compensation depending on the rental company when an accident occurred.

A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport official explained, "Compensation was mainly provided for accidents caused by device defects, and it was difficult to compensate third parties such as pedestrians for accidents caused by user negligence. The newly prepared insurance standard plan makes third-party liability compensation for pedestrians and others who suffer damage from accidents caused by shared PMs such as electric kickboards a basic requirement, and allows compensation for damages up to 40 million KRW for bodily injury and up to 10 million KRW for property damage."

Not only accidents caused by device defects such as electric kickboard malfunctions but also accidents caused by user negligence can be compensated. Coverage for injuries such as sequelae and medical expenses for PM users will be handled by subscribing to insurance riders and operated by each company.

The insurance standard plan proactively includes compensation for accidents caused by user negligence before the introduction of mandatory insurance, so that victims of accidents caused by shared PMs can receive compensation first regardless of the cause of the accident. However, since the Personal Mobility-related law has not yet been enacted, shared PM insurance is not mandatory, and the insurance standard plan is based on voluntary subscription and participation by companies.

Among the companies included in the PM public-private consultative body, 13 companies have decided to participate proactively in the insurance standard plan, and some companies (Neuron) that started services after the consultative body was formed have also agreed to join the standard plan.

Some companies are already subscribed to insurance products that meet the insurance standard plan, and other companies plan to complete subscription to products that meet the insurance amount and coverage of the insurance standard plan in line with their insurance renewal schedules starting in December next year.

Meanwhile, even before the enactment of the Personal Mobility-related law, efforts will be made to allow PM rental operators to use the automatic driver's license verification system first.

Companies will receive APIs from the Road Traffic Authority and, after developing and testing their own systems and integrating with the system, will be able to use the driver's license information inquiry service in the first quarter of next year. Thereafter, they plan to thoroughly verify users' driver's licenses to prevent rentals to unlicensed users.

In addition, until the law is enacted, local governments and the PM industry plan to encourage local governments to manage parking and stopping by following the PM parking and stopping operation guidelines prepared through the regulatory innovation hackathon last year, thereby alleviating pedestrian inconvenience through the establishment of parking and stopping order.