Family of dead Ferrari driver sues insurers AXA Singapore had told Mr Ma's family that the crash was a "collision", not an accident. Tue, Aug 14, 2012; AsiaOne The wife and mother left behind by deceased Ferrari driver Ma Chi are taking the vehicle's insurers to court after the companies said they intend to withdraw coverage for the deadly crash. The Straits Times reported insurers AXA Singapore had told Mr Ma's family that the crash on May 12 at Rochor Road [YouTube: witness footage] was a "collision", not an accident. What this means in the insurance industry is that the driver was aware that his actions would cause an accident, thereby voiding the insurers' liability to make a payout. Mr Ma's family wants the High Court to reject this finding by suing the insurers. The lawsuit is believed to be the first such reported case in Singapore and is becoming a public interest issue as to how accidents are treated as "collisions", under which an insurer can reject liability. The accident in May left three, including Mr Ma, dead and two others injured. He had allegedly run a red light, crashed into a taxi, which then hit a motorcycle. According to The Straits Times, AXA first informed the Ma family of its decision last month. In the same month, the family had replied that they disagree with AXA's position. The company then responded by asking the family not to liquidate any of Mr Ma's assets, and said the case should be arbitrated. AXA also asked the family to supply a list of his other assets. Wendell Wong, lawyer for the Ma family, then filed a suit asking the High Court to rule that the crash was indeed an accident and not a "collision" as claimed by AXA. The family released a statement on Monday, "It is not an easy decision but the family feels that we need to seek the assistance of the Singapore courts as the insurer made the decision to repudiate liability first. "We just want to follow the Singapore laws as to what we need to do following the accident that affected people's lives." A pre-trial conference has been scheduled for next month. klim@sph.com.sg Links: AXA motor insurance contract [pdf: view][alt link]
Ma Chi's family to AXA: illegal F1 street racing 'assailant' deserves full compensation. ===== Disclosure, I am not member nor staff of AXA insurance nor party to any direct compensation, just a judicially concerned Singaporean internet observer who would like to see justice served and see no reason why innocent insurance subscribers should compensate for 'non-accidental' accidents consequent of the criminally negligent/ illicit use/conduct of motor vehicles as racing cars on public roads. ===== Ma Chi's family now insists that insurers consider Ma Chi's tragic illegal F1 street racing as an 'honest mistake' and pay them compensation???!!!! ['Family of dead Ferrari driver sues insurers'] Please lah, it is stated clearly in his AXA motor insurance contract [pdf: view][alt link] that (Page 7: SECTION 1 - INSURANCE FOR YOUR CAR) "2. What Is Excluded Your Policy does not insure you against: ...; (g) any wilful act and/or wilful negligence of yourself or that of your Authorised driver. ..." So the ridiculous Chinese family is now trying to say that driving at almost TRIPLE the speed limit [Ferrari crash: Physics teacher calculates that sports car was speeding at 140km/h, STOMP:17May2012], not heeding traffic signals [YouTube:Singapore Ferrari Taxi Crash Enhanced HD Footage is NOT negligent? Ma Chi didn't commit just one offense but TWO offences (each very serious) and both aggravating the other, altogether culminating in three fatalities (Ma Chi inclusive) and 2 more with serious injuries. Despite this egregious if not fatal state of disregard for traffic laws, notwithstanding AXA's motor insurance contract clearly stating under 'GENERAL CONDITIONS (Applicable to the whole Policy)', page 16, point 7- [pdf: view][alt link]: Mediation /Arbitration "You and AXA agree that all disputes arising out of this Policy may be submitted to the Singapore Mediation Centre for settlement by mediation in accordance with the Mediation Procedure in force. The parties agree to take part in the mediation in good faith and undertake to honour the terms of any settlement reached. If any dispute is not referred to mediation or if mediation fails, the dispute is to be referred to arbitration. Arbitration shall be conducted in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre." The family still has the gall to appeal directly to the Singapore High Court (rather than accept arbitration as per contract) with the lame excuse of "we need to seek the assistance of the Singapore courts as the insurer made the decision to repudiate liability first". Of course the insurer needed to "repudiate liability" given the international attention to the reprehensibility of Ma Chi's driving habits and the 3 fatalities of consequence. If Ma Chi had driven within the speed limit, he would unlikely have shot the red and even so, such fatalities would have been less likely. In my mind, the Rochor Road fatal 'accident' of May12, 2012 [YouTube] was 99.9% if not 100% caused by Ma Chi's wilful act and/or wilful negligence in his operating his vehicle in willful disregard with driving rules and regulations. Regular drivers pay motor insurance premiums as legislative requirements to compensate innocent victims and to protect themselves against liability for genuinely unavoidable accidents/ other calamity (floods, hurricane, thief, fire etc). The 12 May Rochor Road accident could have easily been avoided and Ma Chi's estate will pay for his indiscretion. AXA motor insurance in my opinion should cover for legitimate accidents only, Ma Chi illegitimately misused regular public roads as his personal racing track to impress a girl he'd just met, AXA insurance shall NOT be liable for Ma Chi's misconduct. Perhaps if Ma Chi's family (which is incidentally set to inherit Ma Chi's estate worth S$8.1 million; 'Ferrari driver's $8m estate to go to family' [A1, 10Aug2012]]) were to be indeed genuinely concerned about the conduct of justice in Singapore: "We just want to follow the Singapore laws as to what we need to do following the accident that affected people's lives.", and appreciating the severity of the traffic offenses that Ma Chi committed culminating in 3 dead and 2 injured, (with good assistance from their kind lawyer 'Wendell Wong') perhaps the best thing that they should do is to pray hard that Ma Chi's estate is adequate (not made bankrupt) to cover for the deaths and damages consequent of the criminal conduct Ma Chi on public roads on 12May2012. Ma Chi's criminal driving habits were immoral if not criminal and other innocent subscribers to AXA motor insurance should not be expected to subsidize the damages consequent to Ma Chi's criminal acts; least of all the taxi occupants and other innocent victims- none of them should be short-changed despite the lengthy process of claiming insurance pay-outs. Illegal F1 racing on public roads and the willful disregard of traffic signals must not be condoned, and Singapore laws must make that clearly so. Ref: - 'Motor insurance premiums continue to rise' - 'Motor insurance premiums continue to rise': "SINGAPORE : Motor insurance premiums will continue to go up this year as insurers look to recoup underwriting losses, said the president of the General Insurance Association of Singapore (GIA) Derek Teo." [CNA, 17Mar2011]
