New policy on accident liability could cause car insurance costs to sk yrocket

Patients' health funds are expected to save up to zl. 600 million within one year as a result of a new amendment to the general health insurance law under which guilty parties in car accidents will be obligated to pay for victims' medical treatment. The legislation allows patients' funds to demand money directly from the insurer holding the offender's insurance policy. The biggest insurers in Poland, PZU and Warta, are both certain that the base car insurance rate will rise as a result of the amendment. According to an unnamed source within a large insurance company, car insurance rates could rise by anywhere from 30% to 80%. It is estimated that within just the last year the number of people driving without the minimum mandatory insurance policy increased by half a million. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 18; Rzeczpospolita, p. B1) M.T.