Motorists are saying their insurance providers are not bound by law to pay them back promptly. Several motorists stated their dissatisfaction over inadequate service provided by insurance companies. They said insurance providers circumvented the law in reimbursing motorists while others said their reimbursements were deliberately delayed. Many of the motorists attributed this to a lack of a legislation which could enforce insurance companies to pay customers within a certain period of time. Col. Ahmad Al-Ottaibi, Director of the traffic administration in Makkah said the responsibility of traffic officials ends at the scene of the accident, Al-Madina reported Saturday. They are mandated to make an assessment of the accident and the damage to each party involved and are not required to follow-up on the report once it is sent. The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) said it has stopped several agencies from continuing insurance policies because of alleged tampering with estimations of damages in accident reports. Khaled Alaaf said his son was involved in an accident but was no reimbursed after nine months of waiting. “The traffic report held the other driver accountable for the accident. It was the responsibility of the other driver to pay for the damages and repair the car.” After nine months Alaaf said he gave up fighting for the reimbursement.
