A top official of Bahrain Insurance Association (BIA) has said that minor traffic accidents could be handled by a private company, instead of the police, thus freeing up police time and help alleviate traffic jams.

The company could take over by early next year, said BIAchairman Ashraf Bseisu.

"At present 85 per cent of all vehicle accidents are minor and do not need the intervention of the police," said Bseisu. "That would mean the burden of turning up for these minor incidents would free up police time.”

Traffic police have previously reported that up to 90 per cent of their time is spent responding to non-injury accidents.

That role could soon be taken over by a private, joint venture company masterminded by Bahrain's insurance industry.

The move is the brainchild of the BIA, which has been in talks with the Interior and Finance ministries about a joint project for some time and is confident the scheme could be up and running soon.

"The company would be a joint partnership with the Bahrain insurance industry and a specialist European company which has experience in this field," said Bseisu.

He said that the joint venture company would be able to receive reports at its call centre, using the latest technology.

Since the insurance industry would be the lead partner in the venture, it would be able to do damage assessment and process claims through a secure portal, which would speed up the process from the insurance side and cut administrative costs for the industry, while ensuring swifter payments to customers.

"This move fits in with the ratification of the new traffic law in parliament and we will be working with the traffic directorate to implement this," said Bseisu. – TradeArabia News Service