This is the evasion of Soat in Colombia after discounts - Sectors

In November 2022, andThe National Government announced a 50 percent discount on the mandatory traffic accident insurance rate (Soat) for motorcycles low-cylinder and public transport vehicles.

(In context: These are the motorcycles for which the SOAT discount applies)

This promise came true a month later and an insurance that cost, for example, 556,500 pesos for a motorcycle of 100 to 200 cubic centimeters dropped to 278,250 pesos. This measure was implemented to reduce accident rates, prevent fraud in claims and combat evasion in the purchase of Soat.

According to Fasecolda, in 2022, more than 9.3 million policies were issued, of which 45 percent were for motorcycles. This discount caused purchases to skyrocket last December.

While in November 278,707 motorcycle insurance were sold, in December this figure more than doubled, reaching 619,906. However, this year sales have been falling month by monthbut they will remain at levels higher than those registered in the same months of 2022.

In January there were 471,876 policies, 41 percent more than the same month last yearand for March sales dropped to 408,054 insurances, but the figure was 15 percent above that of a year ago.

(You may be interested in: Why should you purchase all-risk motorcycle insurance?)

A greater purchase of Soat has also had positive effects on evasion, although six out of ten motorcycles still continue to circulate on the country’s roads without this mandatory insurance. Currently, there are more than 11.1 million motorcycles in Colombia.

Data from the Single National Traffic Registry (Runt) indicate that in November 2022 evasion on motorcycles was 63 percentsince of the more than 10.8 million that were in the country, only 6.8 million had the valid Soat.

In line with what was sought in December, evasion would be changed to 61.6 percent. That month, more than 4.18 million motorcycles already had policies, but 6.73 million still did not buy it.

Although this year evasion has continued to drop, it has done so at a slower rate. From the 60.6 percent registered in January, it went to 60.2 percent last March, very above the 47 percent that was reported for the entire vehicle fleet in the country (18.1 million vehicles).

“The figures are positive in terms of coverage because it expanded by three percentage points, but it should be a trend and in the following periods it should continue to drop. It would be worth refining the strategy to gain more coverage,” says José Stalin Rojas, a mobility expert.

Meanwhile, Miguel Forero, president of the SOS Motocultura Foundation, states that Evasion is recorded mostly in towns or in areas where there are no transit units to enforce the rules and require drivers to have a valid Soat.

“In the big cities, evasion is very little because drivers are afraid that their motorcycle will be immobilized and recovering it can cost a million pesos, the regulations are more severe in the cities, that is why evasion is outside the big cities. cities,” he adds.

is not sufficient

So that more drivers decide to buy this mandatory insurance, Rojas proposes that people who have not had an accident or a fine receive a cheaper copper rate.

This would mean reintroducing measures such as the 10 percent discount on the value of the Soat issued premium that was in effect last year for drivers who had good road behavior in 2020 and 2021.

For his part, Miguel Forero thinks it is important to carry out a new survey to really find out what the evasion figures are, because “these are totally high figures.”

(Keep reading: Sales of new motorcycles fall in April due to interest increases)

ensure that the high percentage of evasion also takes into account the motorcycles that are in the yards, which are more than 2 million units. Therefore, he proposes that if a motorcycle has been without Soat for five years, the reason should be investigated and, if it is the case, the registration should be cancelled.

For his part, Eduardo Enríquez, Vice Minister of Transportation, said that a campaign is being carried out with the Runt to send more than 12 million messages to all citizens so that they can purchase their mandatory insurance and do their technical-mechanical inspection and thus improve the evasion figures.

Accidents with motorcyclists involved are the ones that weigh the most in soat claims.

Although the figures are positive in terms of the reduction in evasion, the mobility expert says that, unfortunately, the accident rate in the country has not decreased. Therefore, he considers it necessary establish other mechanisms to continue promoting the purchase of Soat and strengthen the national road safety policy.

Currently, seven out of ten road accidents in the country are caused by motorcycles. According to the National Road Safety Observatory, In the first quarter of this year, 1,899 deaths from traffic accidents were registered in the country, 86 more cases than in the same period last year.

(Also, you can read: Minhacienda responds to Minminas Irene Vélez about lowering the price of gasoline)

The motorcyclist is the user who continues to register the most fatalities and in March there were 328 deaths, when a year ago the figure was 309. By contrast, 40 fewer deaths were recorded among cyclists, individual vehicle users, and pedestrians.

“The strategy is to have more controls over the roads. The formula is already written, if we control more citizens on the country’s roads, we can reduce the accident rates. Prevention campaigns help reduce these claims by between 9 and 10 percent,” said the vice minister.

Evasion in technical-mechanics is 70.9%

The evasion in the technical-mechanical review also continues to be high, reaching 70.9 percent last March. In that month, more than 6.7 million motorcycles were still circulating on the roads of the country without this mandatory requirement.

Evasion is more than double when compared to that registered in automobiles, which is 32 percent. Compared to the data of November 2022, there has been a decrease of only 1.15 percentage points in evasion.

Taking into account all the vehicle fleet that must comply with this obligation, in March, 57 percent of the vehicles that circulated on the streets did not have this revision in force, that is, 8.6 million.