Damages for parking lot fire expected to exceed 10 billion won

Approximately 170 luxury imported cars, including some 100 Mercedes Benz, were affected by a fire accident in an underground parking space of a high-rise residential building in Cheonan, which was caused by a home-visit car wash service. The insurance industry anticipates that the damage may amount to over 10 billion won.

According to industry insiders on Wednesday, the fire accident that took place in Buldang-dong of Cheonan City on last Wednesday, the number of cars reported to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Hyundai Fire & Marine Insurance, DB Insurance, KB Insurance amounted to around 470 units of which 34 of them were completely burned down.

Around 170, or 36% of the cars, are imported cars. High-end cars were affected as the building houses a high proportion of high-income professionals.

The anticipated scale of damage to be covered by insurers has surged. Industry experts anticipate that the damage may exceed over 10 billion won, when factoring apartment facility damage. Given that the full coverage of the car wash truck is capped at 100 million won, it would not be enough to compensate the damage.

“Car owners or the insurers of the damaged cars would cover the repair cost, though it would depend on availability of insurance riders, and issue compensation claims to the car wash business. It would not be easy to get compensation due to the massive scale of damage,” said an official with the fire insurance business.


jhshin93@donga.com