Insurance companies in Shenzhen will soon produce new third-party liability insurance for traffic accidents to complement the compulsory auto insurance, industry insiders say.

"All insurance companies are mulling insurance products to complement the compulsory insurance, because their current products overlap the compulsory insurance," Wang Zeyun, secretary general of the city's insurers' association, told a news conference Thursday.

Starting July 1, all 16 domestic insurance companies in Shenzhen will sell compulsory auto insurance, a third party liability insurance that is not for profit. All car owners are required to buy the insurance unless they have already bought third-party liability insurance for their cars. In the latter case, the policyholder will buy the compulsory insurance as soon as the commercial contract expires.

Although the compulsory insurance is not for profit, all insurance companies welcome it, because they believe people will buy their third-party liability insurance products to complement the compulsory insurance.

The compulsory insurance only covers a maximum of 60,000 yuan (US$7,500), which is obviously too low for Shenzhen, where a driver has to pay up to 1.01 million yuan for an accident which kills a Shenzhen hukou holder.

Wang suggested car owners buy commercial third-party liability insurance together with the compulsory insurance.

He said now only about 70 percent of car owners in Shenzhen have purchased third-party liability insurance. This is however twice the national rate of around 35 percent.

Not all drivers welcome the compulsory insurance, however, because the premium of the compulsory insurance-— 1,050 yuan for a car under six seats — is higher than most commercial third-party liability insurance.

(Shenzhen Daily June 23, 2006)