Background
The Appellant’s Mercedes Benz was insured by AIG Insurance when it was involved in a traffic accident on March 17th 2018. After filing a report as required by the Insurer, the vehicle was assessed by AIG’s assessor as well as the their authorised dealer DT Dobie, within 8 days, and then towed to the latter’s garage for repairs.
The actual repair of the vehicle took 17 months and the quality of the work was alleged by the owner to be poor. This prompted the owner of the Motor Vehicle to institute a claim for the full insured sum of Kshs 1,820,000. The Magistrates court dismissed the case and the owner lodged an appeal.
The Case
The Appellant argued that the period of 17 months taken to fix the vehicle was unreasonably long, especially for known vehicle professionals like DT Dobie. He also argued that since the total cost of repairs was about Kshs 1,101,287 amounting to over 60% of the value of the vehicle, the insurer ought to have written it off as per its policy.
In addition, the Appellant argued that the repairs done were of inferior quality, and used the seat belts which were of a different colour and material to make this point.
AIG Insurance on the other hand argued that the delay was reasonable due to the unavailability of some vehicle parts which meant that they had to be imported. They also argued that the cost of repairs for the accident was only Kshs 848,000 which accounted for 48.5% of the car’s value. They insisted on this sum stating the damage to the engine was not caused by the accident but leaking coolant and oil hence not part of the accident repairs. They also insisted that even though it was their internal policy to write off vehicles whose damage was assessed at 60%, it was not a contractual obligation. Further, the insurers insisted that the original seatbelts were no longer available due to the car’s age and make, and that the replacements provided were of the same quality and strength.
Holding of the Court
The court sided with the Insurer, stating that what constitutes as taking too long to fix a vehicle, as well as the quality of repairs require a professional opinion and not that of the unqualified person. Since the Appellant did not call any professional car dealers or repair experts to support their evidence, the court agreed with the opinion of the insurer’s witness from DT Dobie, that the time was reasonable considering the complexity of the repairs and importation of spare parts.
Furthermore, although the court recognised that it is common practice for insurers to write off vehicles whose damage is assessed at over 50%, unless the same is specifically provided for in the agreement, it is not a mandatory requirement.
