This move by AIG comes after a recent crash in Johor involving three such Singaporean-registered McLarens.
McLaren owners in Singapore might now have to think twice when crossing the causeway to let loose in their supercars, as AIG has recently announced that it will not be extending its insurance coverage for these cars outside of Singapore soon. A move that was first reported by The Straits Times, the motor insurer has decided that it the insurer said it will not be liable for losses arising from accidents occurring outside of Singapore with these supercars from April 1st 2024.
In a correspondence to an insurance broker, AIG stated of its decision came on the back of “an exceptional increase in frequency of severe accidents involving McLaren vehicles in Malaysia”. This move incidentally also comes after a recent crash in Johor back in late October involving three such of these Singaporean-registered British supercars crashing into each other, leaving one vehicle badly damaged but fortunately no one was injured.
Exotic car insurance broker Eazy indicated to The Straits Times that this new stand by AIG was rare, but not unheard of. “It’s not uncommon for cars which cost more than $3 million (RM 11 million) [to have such coverage restrictions],” said Eazy chief executive Douglas Chia. “But it’s less common for cars below that price range.”
Funnily enough, The Straits Time has also reached out to one of the parties involved in the aforementioned McLaren Crash in Johor. And perhaps even more amazingly is that a reply was received, with Mr Luah stating: “I don’t understand why McLaren is being singled out. There have been many past crashes in Malaysia involving other brands. So I’m a bit puzzled.”
Mr Luah, a property agent, said AIG has quoted him a premium that is “five times” that of his current one for policy renewal. “Obviously I am not going to go back to them. I can understand if it is two times, but five times!” Mr Chia of Eazy provides an estimate for the annual premium for a car like the latest McLaren Artura to currently range between $6,000 (RM 21,000) and $10,000 (RM 35,000) for a regular driver with a 50% no-claim discount.
Commenting further regarding how this matter may affect the McLaren ownership in Singapore — of which there are apparently around 200 on the island according to the Land Transport Authority— on the other hand, Mr Chong Kah Wei, managing director for the supercar marque at multi-brand dealership Eurokars, stated to the paper: “This is a hard call by AIG. They are doing this for their own interest. But we have other insurance partners, like Liberty.
“We are working to transition some customers over to Liberty, so that they are taken care of. Meanwhile, we are in talks with AIG to see how we can lessen the impact on existing customers,” he added.
When approached for their input, the General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA) said it does not comment on the practices of individual members. “This is a matter of each insurer’s risk acceptance,” said GIA chief executive Ho Kai Weng.
What is perhaps more of an issue however pertaining to this new prerogative by AIG is that it is not clear whether the unilateral dropping of coverage for Singaporean-registered McLarens into Malaysia may be legal or not. Lawyer Chia Boon Teck said: “When the insurance policy is up for renewal, the insurer is entitled not to cover Malaysian drives. But I don’t think the insurer can unilaterally do this mid-stream of the insurance policy – unless the policy allows the insurer to do so.”
In any case, while not the best this new directive from AIG may be a thorn in the side for the few privileged enough to be affected, the average Malaysian road user on the other hand may well be more than pleased with this announcement, and may probably be hoping for more insurers to follow suit too. Such is as we over here already have enough mad local drivers to deal with, with the fewer Singaporeans treating our roads as their own personal race track the better.
