COMPENSATION FOR VICTIMS OF TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS (Speedy payment by Public Trustee)

Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam asked the Minister for Law whether he will ask the office of the Public Trustee to speed up payment of compensation received by his office for victims of traffic accidents.

The Second Minister for Law (Prof. S. Jayakumar): Mr Speaker, Sir, under the Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act, all compensation monies for victims of traffic accidents have to be paid to the Public Trustee in the first instance if the quantum of compensation exceeds $500.

Where the quantum of compensation paid has been agreed between the insurers and the victim through an out of court settlement, the Public Trustee's duty under the Act is to satisfy himself that the quantum is adequate in the circumstances. For this reason, as soon as he receives the compensation monies from the solicitors acting for the insurers, the Public Trustee has to write to the solicitors acting for the claimant requesting their opinion on the percentage of liability on the part of the victim, copies of the Police report of the accident, medical and specialist reports on the victim, the solicitors' bill of costs for taxation and other relevant documents.

Where the quantum of compensation has been determined by an Order of Court and there is no necessity for the Public Trustee to satisfy himself on the adequacy of the compensation, payment is made as soon as the certificate of the taxed bill of costs is received from the Registrar of the Supreme Court.

It normally takes a few months from the date the compensation monies are received by the Public Trustee for the compensation to be paid to the victims. However, in some cases, delays in payment may be unavoidable when the claimant's solicitors find difficulty in providing relevant documents or when long and protracted negotiations take place between the solicitors for the claimants and the insurers after the Public Trustee has found the quantum of compensation agreed upon by both parties out of court inadequate. In such exceptional cases of delay, an interim payment can be made to the claimant from the compensation in the hands of the Public Trustee.

The hon. Member for Anson may rest assured that the Public Trustee and his officers make every effort to ensure that the monies are paid to the victims or their beneficiaries expeditiously.