Motor Insurance Law-An Overview

Speaker

Navaseelan Suppiah was admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in 1994 having completed his pupilage in the chambers of Mr. Tony Wong Siew Kee of Messrs.Thevin Chandran & Wong where he was subsequently retained as a legal assistant. He was also admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Brunei in 1999.

At Messrs. Thevin Chandran & Wong, Seelan was involved in both criminal and civil litigation including debt collection, protecting the interest of the insurer in respect of claims arising from policies of insurance both in motor and nonmotor field, bankruptcy and land matters. He is also well versed in general conveyancing matters, including drafting of agreements and the preparation of other legal documentation, inter alia Shareholders Agreements, Joint Venture Agreements and Franchise Agreements etc.

In August 1996, Seelan was employed as a Manager for the Liquidators of by Mercantile Insurance Sdn. Bhd. (In Liquidation), where his work included evaluation of claims, advising Liquidators on legal matters involving the company, coordinating and deciding on matters pertaining to claims processing, in general.

Seelan was also actively involved in the negotiations of third party claims. In that respect he had vast experience in dealing with third party solicitors, insureds and other insurers to address issues pertaining to claims with a view to achieve amicable settlements of claims against and/or by the company.

He has vast experience in seeking practical solutions towards the resolutions of problems.

He was also responsible for drafting the legal papers that were subsequently used by the Liquidators for claims that were not eligible or excluded for participation under the Insurance Guarantee Scheme Fund.

Having spent 4 years at Mercantile Insurance Sdn Bhd (In Liquidation), Seelan left to join the partnership of Messrs. Athi Seelan Shan & Su in July 2000 to resume his career in legal practice.

Seelan conducted lectures and seminars at various insurance companies on insurance related topics for the benefit of their staff dealing with matters relating to insurance claims. He is also a lecturer at the Malaysian Institute of Insurance (MII).

Seelan was also involved in various research projects in association with the Asean Insurance Training and Research Institute (AITRI) under the patronage and supervision of Bank Negara Malaysia. He also had the privilege of presenting an opinion for PIAM on the issue of unlimited liability with respect to motor insurance policies.