site.btaParliamentary Committee on Economic Policy Adopts At First Reading Amendments to Insurance Code Proposed by Council of Ministers

The Parliamentary Committee on Economic Policy and Innovation adopted at first reading on Tuesday a bill, submitted by the Council of Ministers, amending the Insurance Code. 

A working group is to be formed on the same day to improve the texts of the bill in a timely manner at the suggestion of Committee chairman Martin Dimitrov from Democratic Bulgaria, with which the Finance Ministry representatives agreed. Deputy Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova suggested that the working group should include representatives of the Committee and the business, saying that in this way a working solution could be found that would not allow the possibility of abuse or draining of the insurers' money. 

She pointed out that the bill would ensure that the obligations of insurers and the National Bureau of Bulgarian Motor Insurers (NBBMI) under the Green Card system were fulfilled accurately and in a timely manner as required by the Internal Rules of the Council of Bureaux. Petkova reminded that the adoption of the amendments to the Insurance Code is in line with Bulgaria's intentions to join the eurozone. 

On Monday, representatives of the insurance industry told the media that the bill would lead to "bankruptcies" in the sector and to an increase in the price of the Civil Liability Insurance. The industry is against the bill because, according to them, they will have to pay claims made in the event of accidents abroad without first checking the documentation and having the opportunity to refuse payment.