My wife and I are buying an old used car from a friend of my wife’s cousin. (I know, I know, but that is for another discussion.) Anyway, the insurance for it has been paid for a year my wife says.
Two questions:
(1) In Taiwan, can you really just transfer insurance with the car? Don’t they need to re-evaluate the cost based upon our neighborhood, driving record, etc.?
(2) I’m assuming that it will only have the bare minimum coverage. I spent a year practicing personal injury law in Hawaii a ways back and the one thing that I got out of the experience that is still burning in giant fiery letters in my mind is “BUY AS MUCH INSURANCE AS YOU CAN AFFORD!” (I mean for bodily injury, uninsured/under-insured motorist coverage, etc. The car itself is barely worth covering.) Having not bought insurance in Taiwan before, any advice is appreciated.
For example, from comments made in other posts, it seems that I should have my wife buy it. Yet, she’ll still have to put me on the policy…so what’s the difference?
My wife’s family is of the why-pay-more-than-you-have-to school. I guess that’s understandable if you’ve never had to explain to folks whose lives have been ruined that the guy who hit them had no insurance and no assets of any worth. I certainly don’t want there to ever be a chance that my wife or I will be on the receiving end of that conversation.
No claim to special knowledge on this, but my understanding is that the basic “insurance” isn’t, and doesn’t.
I think its some kind of government accident victim compensation scheme, and provides no realistic cover for your potential liabilities to others, and certainly no protection for yourself. Since this is all most people have, nearly everyone is effectively uninsured by Western standards. Ooer
I’ve posted the very little I’ve gleaned on this under “Scope of the basic 3rd party insurance” (dunno how to link to it but that should find it ) and no one has argued, though there must be more informed opinion out there.
Be cautious in taking advice from Taiwanese. I don’t like saying this but its been my experience that the majority of them have no idea how their own rules and regs operate.
I will try to find out more info on insurance policies in Taiwan and will post back with my findings. Given the lack of responses to your earlier thread, however, it looks like most members of this board have not bought more than the required insurance, which is kinda scary. Or perhaps it is too boring of a topic for most folks, but hey, if you shopped for car insurance in Taiwan, please share your knowledge.
I think that applies to most people most places. Most lawyers make the money they do because they have the patience to look it up and actually read through and try to make sense of the dreck.
Forgot to answer your first question: Yes, you can just transfer the legal minimum insurance, at no charge. Given the minimal cover offered, I suppose its not worth evaluating individual risk factors.
Plus, EVERYWHERE in Taiwan has dangerous traffic, including the pavement (sidewalk), where there is one, and probably the shower.
Whether free transfer would apply to higher cover levels I don’t know. Logically it shouldn’t, so it probably does.
the basic yellow card insurance is more like a “road accident fund” that some countries have, calling it insurance at least in the Western sense of insurance is misleading… very bare bones 3rd party is basically what it is… for actual comprehensive insurance for car damage/theft/fire I’d be surprised if you got away with under NT$20k a year even on an old car… as for personal injury and liability insurance in the Western sense, well it depends on your level of cover and your insurance company, for a new policy probably over a hundred grand or so with a no claim payout after the first year… YMMV …
[quote=“ChouDoufu”]My wife and I are buying an old used car from a friend of my wife’s cousin. (I know, I know, but that is for another discussion.) Anyway, the insurance for it has been paid for a year my wife says.
Two questions:
(1) In Taiwan, can you really just transfer insurance with the car? Don’t they need to re-evaluate the cost based upon our neighborhood, driving record, etc.?
(2) I’m assuming that it will only have the bare minimum coverage. I spent a year practicing personal injury law in Hawaii a ways back and the one thing that I got out of the experience that is still burning in giant fiery letters in my mind is “BUY AS MUCH INSURANCE AS YOU CAN AFFORD!” (I mean for bodily injury, uninsured/under-insured motorist coverage, etc. The car itself is barely worth covering.) Having not bought insurance in Taiwan before, any advice is appreciated.
For example, from comments made in other posts, it seems that I should have my wife buy it. Yet, she’ll still have to put me on the policy…so what’s the difference?
My wife’s family is of the why-pay-more-than-you-have-to school. I guess that’s understandable if you’ve never had to explain to folks whose lives have been ruined that the guy who hit them had no insurance and no assets of any worth. I certainly don’t want there to ever be a chance that my wife or I will be on the receiving end of that conversation.[/quote]
You’re correct - and fortunately I have some sensible Taiwanese friends who warned me about this when I bought a car.
I was refused fully comprehensive insurance because I don’t have a new car (?) but 3rd party insurance sets me back NT$16k per year. I ain’t complaining because this is about 10 times cheaper than comparable insurance in the UK (age 23, 3200cc SUV) but it seems that an older driver with no claims history would probably end up a little worse off in Taiwan. I’m currently back on just the basic compulsory insurance because I’m not driving much for the next month or so and I figure I can shop around for better value. My extended 3rd party insurance covers NT$10m 3rd party death or injury, NT$5m vehicle/property damage and NT$1m for passenger injury cover (the last part was important for me because even though I have a jian bao card this will also cover any visiting friends/relatives). There’s no driver injury cover with this policy, but I assume that’s because most people - like me - are happy with the standard jian bao cover that gives similar benefits to the UK NHS.
I’ll have jian bao coverage soon. I’m nervous to rely entirely on that. I need to look more into what it covers. Beyond the emergency room, would restorative plastic surgery, loss of wages, etc. be covered?
NT $1m for passenger injury cover? That’s only a few hundred over $30,000 USD. Yikes. NT $10m 3rd-party is more reasonable. So, I guess that a NT $16,000 plan is primarily insurance to protect me against lawsuits. If I want to protect myself and my family, beyond “necessary” medical services covered by the national insurance plan, then I’ll have to pay through the nose. Which, coming from New York, I’m used to.
[quote=“ChouDoufu”]I’ll have jian bao coverage soon. I’m nervous to rely entirely on that. I need to look more into what it covers. Beyond the emergency room, would restorative plastic surgery, loss of wages, etc. be covered?
NT $1m for passenger injury cover? That’s only a few hundred over $30,000 USD. Yikes. NT $10m 3rd-party is more reasonable. So, I guess that a NT $16,000 plan is primarily insurance to protect me against lawsuits. If I want to protect myself and my family, beyond “necessary” medical services covered by the national insurance plan, then I’ll have to pay through the nose. Which, coming from New York, I’m used to.
Maybe I’ll just hide in my shower…[/quote]
NT$1m might not sound much, but bear in mind that medical treatment in Taiwan is considerably cheaper than America. I strongly recommend that you go and check out the rates for hospital stays, medical care etc. yourself before you make a decision. ‘Adequate insurance’ for a 23 year old with no dependents is no doubt a fair bit different to ‘adequate insurance’ for a family with limited assets. However, I’ve done my own research and I’m comfortable that my coverage is more than adequate for my needs.
I’ve now hauled a total of 3 furriner tourists down to the emergency room after scooter spills :fume: and the bill (without NHI) never came to more than NT$15,000. That includes two guys with extensive emergency defribement surgery and 3-4 days recuperation in a public ward. A friend who came to visit from the UK got an ear infection in Pingtung and paid NT$680 for about half an hour with an ear specialist in a public hospital including a week’s worth of ear drops and painkillers - plus she was seen within an hour of registering, which is a total impossibility in the UK.
As for the 3rd party property insurance, I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about Taiwanese trying to milk foreigners all they can in the event of a crash but to be honest I’ve not experienced this problem myself. Every accident I’ve had has been the fault of a student on a scooter and to be fair, they all owned up to it being their fault. However, at least I know it’s there in case I manage to write off a few Mercs in one go somehow.
) and no one has argued, though there must be more informed opinion out there.
I think that applies to most people most places. Most lawyers make the money they do because they have the patience to look it up and actually read through and try to make sense of the dreck.
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