For any contract, it is important to know what you are agreeing to before you sign it. This is evidently also the case when you insure your car in Thailand. Unfortunately, Thai car insurance contracts rarely communicate their agreements very clearly. Therefore it is especially useful to know what you are looking for in a contract even before you reach out to an insurance company. This article will familiarize you with the basic types of Thai car insurance to make sure you are not confronted with more bad surprises once you have already been injured or your car has already been damaged.
What type of car insurances are there?
There are 4 prominent car insurance classes, with 2 additional subclasses: Compulsory, Type 3, Type 3+, Type 2, Type 2+ and Type 1. Their respective order indicate the amount of coverage they offer (from lowest to highest coverage).
Compulsory:
Every Thai driver must at least have this type of car insurance by law. It is the smallest amount of coverage available at the lowest price.
As a driver, when you only have compulsory insurance and you are the victim in a traffic accident, you would be entitled to:
- Up to 4,000 Baht in case of hospital treatment
- Up to 200,000 Baht in case of loss of body organs or permanent disability
- Up to 200,000 Baht in case of loss of life
- Up to 50,000 Baht in case of other body injury
- Up to 204,000 Baht overall
As a passenger, when you only have compulsory insurance and you are the victim in a traffic accident, you would be entitled to:
- Up to 5,000,000 Baht per person in a private car
- Up to 10,000,000 Baht per person in a bus or passenger coach
When you only have compulsory insurance and you are deemed liable for the traffic accident, you would be entitled to:
- Up to 35,000 Baht in case of loss of body organs or permanent disability
- Up to 15,000 Baht in case of loss of life
- Up to 15,000 Baht in case of other body injury
- Up to 50,000 Baht overall
Type 3 (+):
In addition to compulsory car insurance, the type 3 car insurance also covers third party property damage. Type 3+ insurance additionally covers damage to the insured car in the case of a collision of vehicles.
Type 2 (+):
In addition to type 3 car insurance, the type 2 car insurance also covers theft and fire damage to the insured vehicle. Type 2+ insurance additionally covers damage to the insured car in case of a collision of vehicles.
Type 1:
In addition to type 2 car insurance, the type 1 car insurance also covers all damage to the insured vehicle.
The table above illustrates the differences in coverage between all types of insurances. Compare prices between all the different types of insurance on: www.askhanuman.co.th.