Police vehicles ‘ not protected by insurance’
> No compensation will be paid to other parties in accidents involving cops
KUALA LUMPUR: It will not be easy for a member of the public to get compensation if he is involved in a road accident with a police vehicle, even if it was the police’s fault.
This is because none of the police vehicles are insured and the party would have to write to the legal advisor in the police force on the matter.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said there are about 22,000 vehicles owned by the police force and all are “not protected by insurance”.
“The police will not pay any compensation or vehicle repair costs if they are involved in a road accident.
“Nevertheless, the claims can be made to the government for the relevant costs or compensation,” he said in a parliamentary written reply to Teo Nie Ching (DAP-Kulai) on Oct 24.
Ahmad Zahid said this is based on the procedures stated in the Treasury Circular WP 4.2 on accidents involving government vehicles.
Teo had asked the home minister to state the total number of police vehicles without insurance and how the police will pay compensation or repair costs if they are involved in accidents.
“Every accident involving a government vehicle will be referred to a legal adviser to study the possibility of the government paying for the loss incurred in the accident.”
“If the other party is at fault, the compensation will be collected through the attorneygeneral and the money will be credited as government revenue,” Ahmad Zahid said.
For other repair or maintenance costs, the police will use the allocation given to the department.
The circular states when a government vehicle is involved in a crash, the driver must give a detailed report in writing to the department head after lodging a police report within 24 hours of the incident.