By Trevor Hughes……
Car and House Insurance Policies
Because of the turbulent times we are experiencing with the Turkish lira right now, the TRNC Insurance and Reassurance Companies Union have issued a warning to people whose insurance policies are insured in Turkish lira. The value of the pay-out when making a claim has been reduced by some 30%. If your policy was taken out from January this year, because of the slump in the value 
of the Turkish lira, if you have not addressed the situation, you may have to fund any shortfall on claims yourself.
If your policy is calculated in Turkish lira, you should contact your insurance company/agent and seek their guidance. You will be given the choice of paying the policy shortfall, or take the risk and do nothing.
Customer policies written by Capital Insurance in Alsancak pay the fully comprehensive insurance in sterling, so there is no need to worry.
TRNC DRIVING LICENCES
Over the last two months we have been processing first time applications for TRNC driving licences. We have processed over thirty applications so far, and all but a couple have gone through with relative ease.
There are a number of licences not accepted by the department issuing them, for example African countries and Arab States. The only answer for those people who have had their applications turned down, is take a driving test here, which is not particularly onerous, but there is a long waiting queue.
In the period from the 6th-12th of August, the police made several road side checks and found that some 638 drivers failed to comply with the Road Traffic Laws, including two foreigners for not having a TRNC driving licence. They were duly fined, issued penalty points and told to apply for a TRNC licence as soon as possible if they wish to continue driving here!! Luckily for them, they did not suffer a road 
traffic accident because they would have been dealt with more harshly and their car insurance would have been invalid.
If you would like me to apply for a licence on your behalf, visit Capital Bank on the main road in Alsancak and we will help you make your application and obtain it for you, which is far cheaper than going to a driving school and paying far more for the same service.
The preferred company who take accepted photographs for a successful licence application, is Yucel in Girne [just pass the old HSBC Bank] who is charging 30 TL for more photographs than is needed, which I feel represents excellent value for money.
The Taxation Department in Girne are advising driving licence renewal applications that their collection of the new cards is now taking up to four weeks to collect, up by two weeks longer than at the same time last year.
Plastic 19 LTR Water Bottles
The Government Department responsible for public health have had the dangers of out dated 19 Ltr plastic water bottles brought to their attention. Not only should the bottles be discarded after they have reached five years old, keeping them in temperatures in excess of twenty-four degrees centigrade may render the water unfit for human consumption.
You can check on the age of the bottle by looking at the two circles on its base. One will give the age in years and the other in months.
Water suppliers will not take outdated bottles from you, it is your responsibility for disposing of them yourself. The deposit you paid when purchasing the old bottle will 
not be returned to you either. To make matters worse you will have to pay a further deposit on your new purchase.
When I was at school I understood a deposit was either to lay down, to entrust, or to store when purchasing whatever you’re buying, or a sum of money which is returned back to you when returning the item purchased as agreed. Not so here, it seems they are getting people to fund the manufacture of new bottles to avoid manufacturing cost.
Surely it is the responsibility of the supplier to dispose of the bottles for you, this is this why you paid a deposit in the first place!!
How are people supposed to dispose of the bottles responsibly? I can see numerous bottles thrown away in fields, waste land, or just left for somebody else to dispose of them. Why don’t the Government make the manufacturers responsible and set up dropping off points where the general public can hand them over for safe disposal, isn’t this why you pay a deposit?
POLICE OFFICERS ID NUMBER
If whilst driving and you are requested to pull over by a police officer and requested to attend the officers police station because there is something wrong with your car related documents, make note of the officers ID number displayed on his/her shoulder part of the uniform.
Because police officers do not attend the police station every day, if you cannot identify the officer concerned, a colleague may not be able to help you resulting in you having to attend again.
Vehicle Registration Department
If you have the need to make any adjustments on your log book, or registering you as the new owner of your recently purchased car etc, make sure you go to the office really early to try and avoid many a long hour you will spend there.
I recently went there to get a deceased person’s name removed from the log book. I went at 0745 hrs to avoid the inevitable long queue, but when I got there 51 people beat me to it! By the time the alteration was processed it was 1415 hrs and there was still some 40-50 people waiting after me.
To try and avoid this long wait can I suggest you go at 0700 hrs which will go a long way in avoiding this arduous task.
Let’s hope they can speed things up when they move to their new offices.
If anyone needs information regarding log books give me a call on 0533 844 3403. An insurance company told this person to go to the Muhtar’s office and he will do it for you. How wrong can you be?
Since writing the above, details have emerged the Motor Vehicle Registration, Inspection and Licensing Branch has resumed its operations on Tuesday last week in the reservations section of the former Cyprus Turkish Airlines (CTA) building, on Bedrettin Demirel Avenue in Lefkoşa. Renovation works at the building for the instalment of the electronic equipment and preparation of offices for administrative staff were completed during the Bayram holiday.
The building has two entries and houses ramps for wheelchair users. The Motor Vehicle Registration, Inspection and Licensing Branch will continue serving at the old building until the construction of the new building for the Traffic Department in Metahan is completed.
In the meantime, the ministry is working with the aim of activating an online payment system for road tax by the end of this year. I hope the new system can identify said vehicles having a current MOT certificate.
In addition to this, vehicle owners will be able to obtain information with regard to vehicle registration, inspection and licensing by dialling the “VEHICLE REGISTRATION HELPLINE” on “1300”. Their aim is to bring this service into operation in early September, this year. Until such time when the system is fully operational, the original office is still operating as normal.
LATE NIGHT CHEMIST ROTA
The new chemist rota will not be made available to us until mid-September
BAYRAM HOLIDAYS
There are no Bayram holidays this month.
For any further information please email me through the contact box below.
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