Member suffers economic loss – inflationary pressure

Risk Matters - Spring 2023

A third-party truck failed to give way and pulled out in front of a member’s waste truck causing damage to the vehicle. The truck was assessed and declared as a total economic loss with a pre-accident value of approximately $200,000. The member had declared an asset value of $132,000 for the truck which, given the pre-accident value, meant the truck was significantly undervalued. Motor policies will only pay the lesser of either the pre-accident value or the declared value.

Ensuring motor vehicles are appropriately valued and declared is essential to ensure there is no ‘gap’ between what the motor policy will pay at the cost of replacing the damaged vehicle on a like for like basis (market value).

Local governments should take note of inflationary pressures when valuing their property and motor assets. This is an important step to reduce the loss to our member if and
when disaster strikes, and ensures that your protectio

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LGIS findings

Ensuring all fleet vehicles, especially large specialists vehicles like waste trucks, are appropriately valued and declared is critical to ensure the motor policy will enable the member to replace the vehicle on a like for like basis with no ‘gap’. The member hired a replacement waste truck at substantial cost, but it is likely this will be recovered from the at-fault party.

Waste trucks provide a critical service to the community and the loss of a single asset can have large impacts to members and their service ability.

Through recovery efforts and in-depth assessing reviews, LGIS assisted the member with their UIL (uninsured loss – the ‘gap’ between the motor vehicle coverage and the costs of replacing the vehicle on a like for like basis) and the hire costs (up the motor vehicle policy limit of $5,000).

Outcome

The member was happy with the settlement but this incident has alerted the member to review all of their asset declarations and valuations on a regular basis.

Lessons from this case

  • Inflation and economic conditions continue to deteriorate and local governments should carefully consider if leaving a contingency is valuable vs the potential impact of a loss.
  • For Q2 this year, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was recorded at 5.6%, which is still above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) target range of 2 to 3 %. Construction and equipment costs are still very high; making it essential for local governments to consider asset re-evaluation.

This is a good reminder to members to review their declared asset values across the board.

Our team across the varied portfolios – WorkCare, Liability, Property, Bushfire Volunteer, and Motor protection provide members with more than just claims management. Claims consultants will attend mediations, court, provide coronial inquest support, share lessons learned across WA local government and provide advice to local government staff.

For more information LGIS services, please get in touch with your account manager.

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