Car insurance in Malaysia

In Malaysia car insurance is mandatory in order to register your new car or renew your car's registration. This is definitely important to protect the car owner as well as the other road users. Previously the typical car insurance would protect the car against theft, burglary (break ins) and road accidents. However due to the crazy weather patterns in the last 10 years more people are starting to pay for extra coverage against flood. My father being a classic example of trying to save a few bucks decided against paying the extra premium to cover for flood damage for his E60 BMW. Two weeks after renewing his insurance (without the flood damage coverage), his car was stuck in a flash flood which resulted in him having to fork out RM50,000 to replace the entire engine and other components! Ouch!! Expensive lesson...
In comparison with car insurance in the UK where calculating the premiums for car insurance is like a super science, the insurance companies take into account numerous factors for working out the premiums such as:
- age of driver
- driving history
- type of car bought
- horsepower of the car bought
- where the car will be parked at night
- is the car parked on the street or a garage at night
- where  the car will be park during the car
- whether the car is on the hot list (high theft list)
- is the car modified
- can the car be easily modified
- is the car turbo charged or super charged
- the category of driver's license possessed by the new owner
- accident history

Taking into consideration all these factors the insurance premiums can sometimes be higher than the value of the car especially if the car is a used car and the owner is under 25 years old and is a male.

The car insurance industry is rather backward in Malaysia as none of the insurance companies take into consideration these factors except for the high theft rate vehicles (such as Toyota Hilux, Toyota Harriers , Honda CRV, Mercedes E Class and a few more) where some insurance companies require the owners to install tracking systems.
Having a backward insurance system meant that a person could own a 300hp car at the age of 18 without additional premium penalties. This comes back to the question of safety. Wouldn't it make sense to slap a heavier premium on such cases ? It only makes sense to do so to protect other road users and discourage parents from giving their child with a new driver's license the ability to drive a vehicle beyond their control. It is like giving the child a loaded gun!