IN AN industry which is notorious for surreptitiously punching keys on a calculator when determining insurance rates and for rejecting policies without explanation, Toyota is providing a different approach. Walk into a Toyota showroom and the insurance salesperson sits right beside the door and the premium manual is on show for inspection, outlining the type of car and the offered premium, depending on the no-claims discount. ''It is straightforward,'' said Mr Xerif Chan Ming-hee, sales administration manager of Toyota Insurance. ''It's just like a supermarket. It's the standard price concept.'' The comprehensive cover is listed in tables for each car and if the car has a Toyota approved alarm, theft excess is reduced from between five and 10 per cent, depending on the car. Recent Toyota buyers seem convinced. According to Mr Chan, more than 80 per cent of Toyota car buyers are taking up Toyota insurance. Toyota's move last May to offer its insurance scheme was prompted largely by the lack of clarity in the way motor insurers offered policies. Mr Chan said the scheme was born out of a number of concerns. The first was the insurer's rejection of applicants based on unclear rationale. In answer to this problem, Toyota provides a sheet of ''risks not acceptable''. Actors, models, entertainers, and professional sportsmen are top on the list. Owners, operators, and employees of nightclubs, cabarets, dance halls, cocktail lounges, gambling saloons, betting shops, and kung fu institutions are also black listed. Mr Chan said these were high risk professions and were excluded to ensure only good customers got into the pool. ''That way we don't have to charge customers excessive payments,'' he said. Critical of the way in which motor insurers have acted in the past, he also pointed to a lack of standardisation and published information among motor insurers. ''With other insurers you really don't know what you're paying,'' he said. ''Our rates aren't judged by a salesman saying today I feel good. It is actually in black and white.'' With Inchcape Insurance acting as the agent and Sun Alliance as the underwriters, Mr Chan said bulk volume allowed Toyota to offer reasonable rates, as recommended by the Accident Insurer's Association (AIA) with no extra loading costs. And by reducing excesses if an alarm is installed, Toyota claims to be discouraging car theft as well. Toyota now fits its Lexus, Crown and Camry models with its UCSS alarm system at production. Since the systems have been fitted in Lexus models, the number stolen has dropped from 40 a month to zero.
