Thailand’s first marine insurance bill based on a UK law has received the green light from regulators and will be sent to the cabinet for consideration.

If approved, the bill, which took six months to draft, will be forwarded to the National Legislative Assembly for enactment. 

The Office of Insurance Commission on Friday held a seminar on the new bill, which it claims will bolster the local insurance industry’s competitiveness, as well as investors’ confidence.

Secretary-general Suthiphon Thaveechaiyagarn said marine insurance was worth 5.3 billion baht in 2016, or 0.03% of trade value.

“Once the law takes effect, the value should gradually increase to at least 14.4 billion baht,” he said.

In the absence of it, Thai courts have been applying the UK’s 1906 Marine Insurance Act in principle in cases involving marine insurance disputes.

“But since the law is in English, it depends on how well witnesses testify in court, creating advantages and disadvantages in a case. Besides, there are few marine law experts in Thailand,” he said.

Most marine insurance disputes involve damaged goods on which owners demand compensation from insurance companies. In some cases, the policies needed to be interpreted.