"The risk of road accidents resulting from poor road infrastructure is entirely transferred to insurers through high claim frequency and is reflected in the premiums of insurance policies", commented Prof. Stoyan Prodanov, a member of the Bulgarian Association of Insurers (ABI), in a report for BNT on the occasion of the dangerous sections of roads in Bulgaria. He explained that the poor condition of the infrastructure, which leads to an increase in damages, ultimately raises prices for end consumers.
Missing guardrails, potholes, and poor road conditions are among the causes of many accidents and minor incidents. All of this increases claims under motor insurance policies such as "Casco" and "Motor Third Party Liability" (MTPL), respectively increasing the number of compensations, the frequency of payments, and their amount. In order to maintain adequate reserves, insurance companies must reflect this in the price of insurance. A register of problematic road sections could partially solve the problem.
Stoyan Prodanov pointed out that the parties in the chain responsible for the roads – the road owners and the companies that have won tenders for maintenance – should bear their share. In Bulgaria, roads are mainly republican and municipal. It is common practice for their maintenance to be carried out by external companies, which are selected after a tender.
Road owners sometimes receive compensation from insurance companies if a driver at fault for a road accident damages road infrastructure. In this case, the driver's MTPL insurer pays, just as it would for damaged private property, vehicles, and injured persons.
"The invoices we receive for payment seem quite expensive. In our opinion, the price of the guardrails we pay exceeds significantly the prices we see in Western Europe", noted Stoyan Prodanov.
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