"Over 100 Benz Cars"… Damage Amount of 4.3 Billion Won in Cheonan Apartment Parking Lot Fire

The Property Damage Limit for the At-Fault Vehicle is Only 200 Million KRW
Need to Subscribe to Products with Higher Compensation Limits

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] The damage from the explosion of a mobile car wash vehicle in the underground parking lot of an apartment in Buldang-dong, Cheonan, last August is estimated to have reached over 4.3 billion KRW. Given that about 5,000 vehicle fire accidents occur annually, caution is advised.

According to the non-life insurance industry on the 20th, the fire in the apartment's underground parking lot caused significant damage to 666 vehicles parked there. Notably, about 37% of the damaged vehicles, approximately 170 cars, were foreign cars including Mercedes-Benz, resulting in high losses. At the time of the accident, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance received damage reports for about 200 vehicles, while DB Insurance, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, and KB Insurance each received reports for 70 to 80 vehicles. It was confirmed that 34 vehicles were completely burned. Among the damaged vehicles, around 100 were Mercedes-Benz.

The cause of the fire is presumed to be an explosion caused by gas leaking from the LPG tank of the mobile car wash vehicle. When the driver of the car wash vehicle lit a lighter, the gas ignited and exploded, and the flames spread further due to the flammable pipe insulation material.

The problem is that the property damage limit of the automobile insurance subscribed to by the mobile car wash vehicle responsible for the fire is known to be about 200 million KRW, which is insufficient to compensate for the damage to other vehicles.

Insurance companies warned that about 5,000 vehicle fire accidents occur annually and urged caution. In September, a fire suspected to have been caused by an electrical wiring short circuit in one vehicle occurred in an underground parking lot in Ulsan where about 500 vehicles were parked, but thanks to early suppression, only that vehicle was damaged.

DB Insurance explained that, based on its automobile insurance subscribers, the number of subscriptions to property damage liability insurance with maximum limits of 500 million KRW and 1 billion KRW increased by 16.2% in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year, and these products account for 61% of the total.

An industry official said, "Property damage liability insurance is necessary to prepare for fire accidents and others," and added, "The subscription amount for property damage liability should be at least 20 million KRW."

He also advised, "The property damage liability insurance subscription amount of the offending vehicle in the Cheonan parking lot fire accident was 200 million KRW, which is insufficient to compensate for the damage of over 4.3 billion KRW," and recommended, "It is wise to subscribe to products with higher property damage liability limits to prepare for unforeseen accidents."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.