(Bloomberg) -- South African insurers have called on thegovernment to start compulsory motor cover to reduce the cost tomotorists and companies from the country’s millions of driverstaking to the roads without protection.

In South Africa “up to 60% of cars aren’t insured, so with 12million vehicles, only 4 million are insured,” Gari Dombo, managingdirector of the insurance unit of Johannesburg- based AlexanderForbes Group Holdings Ltd., told reporters in the city today.“Those who are insured are heavily subsidizing the uninsured.”

Vehicles account for about 60% of the property and casualtyinsurance industry in South Africa, with accidents making up morethan 80 percent of claims insurers pay out in a year, according toDombo. Insurers in the country can’t currently claw back theircosts from a guilty third party who isn’t covered. Legislationforcing car owners to have third party insurance would help theindustry expand.

“Insurance is about numbers: if you bring in numbers, premiumsshould go down,” Dombo said. “It may cost about 100 rand ($9) to130 rand a month for third party. It would also help panel beatersand assessors to come into the mainstream industry. We’re talkingwith National Treasury about compulsory insurance.”

The earnings of the country’s five largest short-term insurersdropped 12% on average in 2013, partly because of weather-relatedclaims, including golf-ball sized hail stones that damagedthousands of cars, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopersLLP. Industry profits may remain depressed, primarily because ofmotor insurance, Dombo said, adding that Alex Forbes is factoringin two significant hail storms this year.

Vehicles worth 8.5 billion rand were stolen in South Africa inthe year through February 2013, the South African Insurance CrimeBureau said in a statement. Car hijackings made up 15% of the66,360 cases of vehicle theft in the year.

Alex Forbes is the continent’s largest independent retirementfund administrator.

Copyright 2018 Bloomberg. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,or redistributed.