President of the Association of Brokers of Montenegro and Executive Director of the insurance brokerage agency "Broker Ins" Radonja Zekovic said in an interview with Standard, that they had several reports of compensation for material damage after the devastating earthquake that hit Albania, which was felt in Montenegro in Montenegro as well. Zekovic said that our people do not have the habit of insuring themselves against natural disasters and that they have a habit of entering into the cheapest contracts available, whereby the quality of insurance is compromised
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"What is a little disappointing with regard to our insurance culture is the fact that the basic (cheapest) coverage is the one which is south out the most, where priority is given to the price and the quality of property insurance is compromised. The demand for insurance against natural disasters rises sharply after they actually occur. Our people do not have the habit of insuring themselves against natural disasters, and unfortunately, many of our clients, foreign nationals, seek earthquake insurance as a priority risk because they are better acquainted with Montenegro as a seismic area. "The 1979 earthquake alone is a sufficient reason not to question the conclusion of this risk," Zekovic said.
He spoke for Standard about the mistakes that are made when entering into insurance contracts, about the awareness of the citizens of Montenegro about insurance against natural disasters, but also about brokerage and intermediary activities.
Standard: Did you have any reports of damage from the devastating earthquake that happened a few days ago with the epicenter in Albania, and was also felt in Montenegro?
Zekovic: The devastating earthquake that hit our area with the epicenter near Durres, could be felt in Montenegro through a series of minor tremors of stronger and weaker intensity. After the first blow of the strongest intensity in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, there was a danger of possible damage in the form of knocking things off the shelves or small cracks on the facades of residential buildings. And indeed, on the same day we had several reports of damage in the form of minor cracks in the walls and facades. "Since these are our insured persons who have earthquake coverage, the costs of reparation will be covered by the insurance company," Zakovic told Stadnard.
Standard: What forms of insurance contracts can citizens enter into and what are the most common mistakes or omissions that people from this area make?
Zekovic: In our market, it is possible to obtain insurance against all natural disasters - floods, earthquakes, hail, drought, storms… The insurance company will compensate the damage caused by the earthquake, if it is proven that the earthquake was stronger than five degrees on the Mercalli scale. It is very important to know that an earthquake is contracted as a supplementary insurance, this risk must be named on the policy, because we have examples from policyholders who have fire insurance policy, who aim to collect reparations related to floods or earthquakes; point is, all supplementary insurances that must be contracted separately. What is a little disappointing for our insurance culture is the fact that the basic (cheapest) coverage is sought out the most, where the priority is given to the price and the quality of property insurance is compromised. The demand for insurance against natural disasters rises sharply after they occur. Our people do not have the habit of insuring themselves against natural disasters, and unfortunately, many of our clients, foreign nationals, seek earthquake insurance as a priority risk because they are better acquainted with Montenegro as a seismic area. The 1979 earthquake alone is reason enough not to question this risk.
Standard: Koje oblike osiguranja građani mogu da zaključe i koje su najčešće greške, odnosno propusti koje ljudi sa ovog područja prave?
Zeković: Na našem tržištu moguće je zaključiti osiguranje od svih elementarnih nepogoda - poplava, zemljotresa, grada, mraza, suše, oluje… Osiguravajuća kompanija će naknaditi štetu nastalu usljed zemljotresa, ako se dokaže da se zemljotres bio jači od pet stepeni Merkalijeve skale. Jako je važno znati da se zemljotres ugovara kao dopunsko osiguranje, na polisi mora biti imenovan ovaj rizik jer imamo primjera kod osiguranika da se polisom požarnog osiguranja žele naplatiti od rizika recimo poplave ili zemljotresa a to su sve dopunska osiguranja koja se moraju posebno ugovoriti. Ono što je po malo poražavajuće za našu kulturu osiguranja jeste činjenica da se najviše zaključuju osnovna (najjeftinija)pokrića pri čemu se prioritet daje cijeni a gubi se na kvalitetu osiguranja imovine. Potražnja za osiguranjem od elementarnih nepogoda naglo poraste nakon što se iste dogode. Naši ljudi nemaju naviku da se osiguravaju od elementarnih nepogoda, a na žalost, mnogi naši klijenti strani državljani, osiguranje od zemljotresa traže kao prioritetan rizik jer su bolje upoznati sa Crnom Gorom kao trusnim područjem. Samo je zemljotres 1979. je dovoljan razlog da se zaključenje ovog rizika ne dovodi u pitanje.