The intoxication with which the driver of the truck that caused the death of ten people and injured 16 in Villa Ahumada, coupled with the absence of valid documents, might allow the insurance company Qualitas to evade its responsibility in paying the damages, in accordance with the exclusive clauses stipulated in the generality of the contracts.
The delegate of the National Commission for the Protection and Defense of Users of Financial Services (Condusef), Gerardo Núñez, explained in general terms that insurance companies do not cover compensation when intoxication is demonstrated in vehicle drivers. He said he was unaware of the specific case of the Villa Ahumada driver.
Likewise, it revealed that this company is among the main insurers that have the most complaints at the national level, with 9% of the 18,915 claims filed with the Condusef.
Núñez explained that all insurance policies include sections detailing what are the aggravating factors considered by the company as risk, among which are the evidence of consumption of toxic substances or alcohol.
In these cases, he explained, the company can waive its responsibility for paying compensation or damages, because the driver was not in optimal conditions to drive.
Regarding the Villa Ahumada accident, which left 10 dead and 16 injured in addition to considerable material damage to vehicles and businesses, he said that according to the regulations, the owner of the vehicle or the company for which he works must be responsible for the damage.
“In this case, as an aggravating risk is proven, what is called derivative liability comes into play, in which the owner and the company have to see how the damages and compensation are going to be paid, which in the Villa Ahumada accident They are huge,” he explained.
The Condusef delegate lamented the fact and said that in addition to the human and material losses that the tragedy entails, now it is said that the driver does not have to pay, “it is clear that the derived responsibility does have to enter there and that it be done charge the owner”.
The insurer should have asked for a change of owner
The trailer with plates 889-EW-1 is in the name of Alma Flor Piñón; however, it was led by Saúl AD, who worked for a private company. So far there is no other person responsible than the driver.
According to Gerardo Núñez, delegate of the Condusef, the lack of change of owner of the trailer should have been solved before the insurance company Qualitas made the contract, since the clauses of the same contracts establish that the documents of the vehicles must be in rule.
An insurer, especially to cover automobiles, asks that the car invoice be in the name of the owner, who must have all his documents in order and not have debts or lack of change of ownership.
Regarding the case of Saúl, he said, the Qualitas company should have requested that the owner change, “because that is how insurers are managed. When insurance is contracted, the company, in this case Qualitas, asks that all the documentation have updated information,” said Núñez.
The lack of change of ownership, he added, is another of the conditions that might be included in the coverage exclusion clauses, especially when it comes to total loss or theft of vehicles.
Qualitas, among the 3 with the most complaints
The insurance company Qualitas is among the three companies with the most complaints from January to July of this year at the national level with 9% of 18 thousand 915 claims filed with the National Commission for the Protection and Defense of Users of Financial Services (Condusef ).
As explained by Gerardo Núñez, Condusef delegate in Chihuahua, of those, 73 percent were once morest MetLife Mexico, Grupo Nacional Provincial (GNP), Qualitas, Axa Seguros, Chubb, Seguros Banorte, Zurich Santander, Mapfre, BBVA Seguros and Citibanamex Seguros.
He explained that in the first place is Metlife with 16% of the claims, followed by GNP with 14% and Qualitas in third place with 9%.
He highlighted that the product with the most claims was car damage with 47% of the complaints, followed by individual life insurance with 35% and major medical expenses with 6%.
The item in which the most claims were filed by the insured is in the refusal to pay compensation with 36% of the claims, while in the request for cancellation of the contract and/or policy not attended or not applied it was 21%. .
In nonconformity for the compensation payment time, the complaints represented 10%, in nonconformity with the amount of compensation it was 6%.
The same percentage of complaints was reported to the Condusef due to disagreement with the time for the repair of the affected property and the remaining percentage was due to other unspecified causes.
Finally, the delegate of the Commission in Chihuahua explained that during the first quarter of the year (January-March) the state was among the nine with the most complaints nationwide with 184 complaints out of 8,141, a figure that represents 2.3%. of claims in the country.
