Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

More people driving without insurance
A growing number of drivers are driving uninsured as the slumbering domestic economy squeezes consumers. According to the Korea Insurance Development Institute yesterday, the owners of 868,830 cars, or 6.1 percent of 14.3 million cars registered at the Construction and Transportation Ministry, were uninsured as of April.

The number of car owners without insurance has risen by 98.5 percent from the end of 2000, when 437,695, or 3.8 percent of the total, had no insurance. Auto liability insurance, which covers up to 100 million won ($96,422) for death and 20 million won for injury, is mandatory for all vehicle owners. Those failing to get insurance have risen steadily year-on-year since 2000.

Uninsured owners face up to a year in jail and up to a 5 million won fine if caught.
JoongAng Daily (July 14, 2005)
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200507/13/200507132234305609900090509052.html

[Hyalucent]

Add that to the "but it's the same or worse in North America" category.

The insurance rates here are absolutely insane and forcing a lot of people to go without.

I paid $400 bucks a year in Canada before I left for Korea. Because I ended my insurance policy (whether I continued to drive in Korea was unimportant), I arrived home and in less than 4 years, my insurance went up to $1600. Quadrupled.

... and the first company I approached actually refused me.

I have no accidents on my record, not even a speeding ticket, so I found this incredibly insulting. My insurer promised me it would go down after I was back in-country for a year but lo and behold... the annual renewal came up (still with no accidents) and he wanted to raise it to $1800 just incase my K-girl (who doesn't have a Canadian license) wanted to drive it.

I quit the policy and ended up going to the company that initially refused me who, after a year home, would now insure me for only three times what I paid back in 2000.

*sigh*

You really see the effect here, in rural Canada. You absolutely need a car to get to and from work. There's no public transit and my hometown is physically at least half the size of Seoul but with only 17,000 people. Everything is so spread out.

[Moldy Rutabaga]

One of my friends enjoyed "the Alberta advantage" three years ago when he bought a shiny new Mustang convertible.. until he discovered that insurance would be $4300 a year! He ended up trading back the car for something else. It's likely that people are beginning to decide on what car to buy (or not to buy) based on insurance costs.

Ken:>