I refer to the Malaysiakini report Insurance scheme: Bar wants Bank Negara to consult stakeholders .

I am totally astounded that Bank Negara is considering a scheme where the quantum payable by the insurance companies is capped at RM100,000 and the accident victim has to recover the balance from the driver or owner of the motor vehicle involved in the collision.

In other words, in the event I meet with a road accident and the victim suffers losses amounting to RM350,000, my insurers would only pay RM100,000 and I would be personally liable to pay the balance RM250,000 and this does not include interest, costs and legal fees payable to solicitors to defend me. All in, I would be paying about RM300,000 out from my own pocket.

Changes are being proposed because purportedly the insurance companies are paying about RM2.30 to RM2.70 for every ringgit collected for motor premiums. I seriously doubt this calculation and the details or workings as to how these figures of RM2.30 or RM2.70 were derived. They must be made public.

Secondly, is it true that motor insurance tariffs have not been increased for the past 30 years as claimed by Bank Negara? If this is true, then would an increase in motor tariffs across the board help keep the current system in place as opposed to the alternative system being contemplated?

Thirdly, how was this figure of RM100,000 obtained?

I have owned and driven a motorcar all over West Malaysia since 1983. For the past 27 years, not one of my insurers paid any third party claims on my behalf.

All in, I would have paid premiums off about RM40,000 based on an average of RM1,500 per year for the past 27 years. I would probably be owning a motorcar for another 15 years and pay more premiums of RM22,500 based on the current scheme.

I would probably be paying RM62,500 for motor premiums during my lifetime. On the average I suspect, a motorist during his life time would pay motor premiums of about RM100,000

There are thousands of other motorists out there, like me. Now with the new proposal, the possibility is that I would exposed to personal liability and would have to pay out from my own pockets and thereby risk losing my house (my only asset) and my savings.

In my view, the scheme proposed defeats the very purpose of purchasing insurance cover. The purpose of an insurance policy is to protect motorist from being exposed to any personal liability and that is why we pay premiums to the insurance companies.