Zimnat Insurance has suspended full cover insurance for imported vehicles which are popular with illegal pirate taxis, informally known as “mshika-shika.” Some of the vehicles included on the list are Honda Fit, Toyota Wish and Toyota Raum. Nissan X-trail and Honda CRV are also included on the list because their parts are hard to find on the local market.
Speaking to Business Times, Masawara Insurance group chief executive Mustafa Sachak said
We are now only doing third-party insurance for those vehicles. Comprehensive cover will only be available to customers after due diligence.
The Insurance and Pensions Commission (Ipec) said,
The move by Zimnat may also be as a result of moral hazard-where policyholders deliberately get involved in an accident knowing that the vehicle is insured. Moreso, individuals may insure the type of vehicles and claim that they are for private use but then use them as commercial vehicles or taxis commonly referred to as mushika-shika. The net effect is that the insurance pool for those type of vehicles would not be sufficient to meet the claims which will arise.
More: Business Time