On April 28, 2017, changes to the Federal Law “On Compulsory Civil Liability Insurance of Vehicle Owners” came into force. The new version of the law changes the procedure for compensation for damage caused to passenger cars. These changes apply to vehicles owned by citizens and registered in the Russian Federation.
The priority form of compensation for damage will now be restoration repairs at a service station.
How will it work?
The car owner chooses a service station (STS) from among those with which the insurance company has an agreement. You can choose a service station both when purchasing a policy and at the stage of settling a loss. A list of service stations indicating the addresses of their location, a list of brands and years of production of the vehicles being serviced, as well as approximate repair times should be published on the website of the insurance organization and constantly updated.
Important! During restorative repairs, in contrast to monetary payments, wear and tear of parts and assemblies is not taken into account, and the use of used or refurbished components is not allowed (unless otherwise determined by agreement between the insurance company and the victim).
Is it possible to choose another service station?
To repair a damaged car at a service station with which the insurer does not have an agreement, you must obtain the written consent of the insurance organization. In the application for insurance compensation, you must indicate the full name of the selected service station, location address and payment details so that the insurer can pay for the restoration repairs carried out.
What are the conditions for restoration?
The deadline for repairs is no more than 30 working days from the date the victim presented the vehicle to the service station.
Repairs of new cars (not older than two years) must be carried out at the service station of an official dealer providing warranty service.
The minimum warranty period for restoration work on a damaged vehicle is 6 months, and for body work and work related to the use of paint and varnish materials - 12 months.
What to do in case of an accident?
If, as a result of an accident, damage was caused to only two vehicles and all drivers have valid MTPL policies, then an application for insurance compensation must be submitted to your insurer.
Important! In cases of harm to the life or health of participants in an accident, an application for insurance compensation should be submitted to the insurance company of the person responsible for the accident.
Completed notifications about road accidents must be submitted by road accident participants to their insurance companies (or their representatives in the constituent entity of the Russian Federation in which the accident occurred) within five working days after the accident.
The period for consideration of an application for insurance compensation is 20 working days.
For failure to comply with the deadline for issuing a repair order to the victim, a penalty is charged in the amount of 1% of the amount of insurance compensation for each day of delay. For violation of the repair deadlines, the insurer is punished with a penalty in the amount of 0.5% of the amount of insurance compensation.
In what cases is a monetary refund in lieu of repairs possible?
Insurance payment in cash is made in the following cases:
- death of the victim;
- infliction of serious or moderate harm to the health of the victim (if such a form of insurance compensation is selected in the application for insurance compensation);
- the victim is disabled and has a car for medical reasons (if such a form is chosen in the application for insurance compensation);
- total loss of the vehicle;
- the cost of restoration repairs exceeds 400 thousand rubles (50 thousand rubles for cases of registration of an accident according to the European protocol) and the victim does not agree to make an additional payment for repairs at a service station;
- all participants in the accident are found responsible for the damage caused (“mutual damage”) and the victim does not agree to make an additional payment for repairs at the service station;
- as a result of an accident, damage was caused only to property other than a vehicle;
- the victim refuses repairs at a service station if it does not meet the requirements for organizing restoration repairs;
- the insurance company does not provide the victim with the opportunity to carry out restoration repairs at the service station specified when concluding the MTPL agreement;
- existence of a written agreement between the insurer and the victim.
The person responsible for the accident will pay for the wear and tear
What are we talking about?
The MTPL Law is one of the most criticized and controversial laws in force in the Russian Federation. The law is incomprehensible to many, some consider it illogical, and there are those who even believe that this law infringes on their rights.
There are many complexities and contradictions in the law, including the inexplicable linking of the size of the insurance premium to the power of the vehicle, on the one hand, and the inability to drive different vehicles owned by one person under one insurance contract, on the other. But, probably, the most difficult and incomprehensible thing for our citizens is a relic of the Soviet past that came from nowhere, a relic of the Soviet past - WEAR, which insurers use when paying insurance compensation under compulsory motor liability insurance.
And for almost 15 years now, policyholders have been expressing their dissatisfaction with this wear and tear, the dissatisfaction is absolutely logical. We won’t even describe in detail now that insurers underestimate the amount of insurance compensation; let’s imagine that a miracle happens and insurers apply actual prices for work, but the cost of spare parts is still reduced due to the use of wear and tear. It turns out that the person is not to blame for the accident, but he has to spend his own money on repairs, or install old disassembled parts of dubious quality, for which, of course, no one gives a guarantee.
What changed?
Until recently, everything remained in place: people, dissatisfied with insurance premiums and the amount of insurance compensation, made noise, insurers, at the first opportunity, declared that compulsory motor third party liability insurance was an unprofitable business, and in general, anti-insurers were to blame for everything, because, it turns out, it was precisely because Insurance companies pay insurance lawyers so little.
There was no end in sight to this, until the next direct line between the President and the people, at which one of the activists raised the question that it was time to put an end to unfair payments and introduce repairs under compulsory motor liability insurance. Everyone took up this initiative and began to discuss that, supposedly, repairs are what will save our insurance market! Hurray, hurray, hurray!
And only, indeed, knowledgeable people immediately suspected some kind of trick. Introduce repairs under OSAGO? For what? Is there a problem with stations where this repair can be carried out? Are there not enough specialists who can repair the car? Of course, there are enough stations and specialists. One enemy - WEAR.
The public liked the news so much that cars would soon begin to be repaired under compulsory motor liability insurance that everyone froze in anticipation of when this wonderful time would come.
And I began to wait for the insurers to officially announce that we are not only starting to repair cars under OSAGO, but also canceling wear and tear, with which no repairs are possible. I waited and waited, and then, on March 10, 2017, everything fell into place. Let's go our separate ways. We were deceived!
What a twist!
The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation ruled: now the culprit of an accident is obliged to compensate for the damage, even if the insurance company has already paid compensation.
I will say more: the culprit is obliged to pay the difference between the amount of damage taking into account wear and tear and without taking into account wear.
They couldn’t come up with anything better than to put the wear and tear on the shoulders of the population! Great move!
Of course, for the party injured in an accident, this ruling is a plus. Who will think about the culprit? Why did he buy OSAGO? To pay for the damage yourself?
In a word, things will only become more difficult for our drivers. We wanted the best, but it turned out as always. They wanted to improve the lives of victims of road accidents, but opened the way to unjust enrichment on the part of enterprising citizens who will now try to get as much money as possible from the person responsible for the accident.
What did the Constitutional Court come up with?
The news about the Constitutional Court's decision of March 10, 2017 sounded like laughter in the middle of the funeral home, stating that now the culprit of an accident is obliged to compensate for the damage, even if the insurance company has already paid the compensation.
So, the essence of the Resolution is that the person at fault for the accident must pay the difference between the amount of damage taking into account wear and tear and without taking into account wear and tear. But it's not that simple.
The anti-insurer has read the said Resolution and provides a detailed review of it.
In the text of the document, you should pay attention to several pages that contain very important and at the same time subtle points. We will not cite the entire text of the document; we will go through excerpts.
Page No. 19: “ Victim due to insufficient insurance payments s to cover the actual damage caused to him has the right to expect that the resulting difference will be made up at the expense of the person whose illegal actions caused this damage , by presenting an appropriate demand to him.”
This paragraph establishes the right of the victim to receive actual damages from the accident from the culprit. But what is considered this actual damage? Let's look further.
Page No. 20: “... when calculating the amount of expenses , necessary to bring the vehicle into the condition in which it was before the damage, and subject to compensation by the person who caused the damage, realities must be taken into account , i.e. necessary, economically justified, meeting the requirements of the manufacturer, taking into account the operating conditions of the vehicle and reliably confirmed COSTS , including costs for new components (parts, components and assemblies).”
According to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, expenses are recognized justified and documented costs, carried out (incurred) by the taxpayer. Oops!
"… because the amount of expenses for restoration repairs in relation to a damaged vehicle is determined on the basis of the Unified Methodology only within the framework of the contract of compulsory civil liability insurance of vehicle owners and only within the limits established by the Federal Law “On compulsory civil liability insurance of vehicle owners”, and calculations of the amount of damage made on its basis for the purpose of making insurance payments DO NOT ALWAYS ADEQUATELY reflect the amount of actual damage caused to the victim and, therefore, cannot serve as the only means for determining it “, the courts are obliged to fully take into account all legally significant circumstances that make it possible to establish and confirm the actual damage suffered by the victim.”
In this paragraph, the Constitutional Court also established a very important point:
It is impossible to demand damage from the culprit on the basis of the Unified Methodology and RSA reference books, since it is not always adequate!
It would seem that everything is clear. The victim has the right to demand from the culprit only those expenses that he incurred to restore the car, but no, the Constitutional Court is so Constitutional that it took and confused everything to the point of impossibility on the same page No. 19:
«… determining the amount of compensation for property damage caused to the victim during the operation of the vehicle by other persons, implies the need to compensate for losses, which the victim objectively suffered OR– taking into account, inter alia, the requirement of paragraph 1 of Article 16 of the Federal Law “On Road Safety”, according to which the technical condition and equipment of vehicles must ensure road safety, – will inevitably have to incur costs to restore your damaged vehicle A».
N – INEVITABILITY
No one wrote what this inevitability means in the resolution, but you and I know very well that a car after an accident can be sold in a broken state without restoration, therefore, when selling a car after an accident without repair, there can be no talk of inevitability. Yes. It turns out that selling a car after an accident is the only possible way to avoid paying money for repairs to the victim on the part of the culprit.
We believe that all cases where the car was not sold after an accident are the inevitability of its further repair, that is, you will have to pay.
What happens?
Here's what.
- If you accidentally drove into a thirteen-year-old Bavarian iron horse, then your MTPL insurance policy will not only not cover all the damage, because insurance companies have the LEGAL right to pay less than expected (wear and tear), but you can also financially participate in the restoration of the victim’s car , paying the difference between the payment with wear and tear and without wear.
- The victim now does not have to prove that he repaired the car; it is enough for him to state that he really wants to repair it, but cannot, since under compulsory motor liability insurance the insurance company paid little and there is not enough for repairs. Now the victim can simply come to court and say that he has a PRELIMINARY order to repair the car, and he asks to recover from the culprit the money that he will INEVITABLY spend on repairs.
But now there are repairs under MTPL instead of payment in money! Hooray?
Personally, I highly doubt that insurers will want to repair old cars with new spare parts, they are not a charitable organization.
Representatives of the insurance company Rosgosstrakh quickly got their bearings and wanted to recover from the culprit of the accident, in addition to the costs of repairs, also wear and tear. How do you like this?
On our own behalf, we note that the cases being considered based on the complaints of A.S. Arinushenko, G.S. Beresneva and others are not similar to this case, since the subjects of law are different, so in the case of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation the complainants are individuals, in the case of subrogation the plaintiff PJSC IC “Rossgostrakh” is a legal entity, an insurance company that has sufficient material and technical resources to carry out repairs and purchase spare parts.
In general, stock up on popcorn. It will be interesting.
On September 1, 2014, another amendment to the MTPL Law came into effect. Now a car owner injured in an accident can choose a method of compensation for damage: payment in cash or repairs at a service station controlled by the insurer. However, this is not a unique innovation for the “motor citizen”.
Rosgosstrakh has been practicing such relationships with clients for more than two years. And since 60% of all MTPL contracts are drawn up by this insurer, a large number of drivers have already learned from their own experience all the features of this method of compensation for losses. Let's analyze the comments on this matter, gleaned from reviews of Rosgosstrakh.
How is repair an alternative to cash payment?
The car owner applies for payment under the MTPL policy and agrees to the company’s offer of compensation in the form of repairs. After this, the insurance company offers a choice of several auto repair shops (or, depending on the circumstances, place of residence and other parameters, offers one single service station). The client makes the best decision for himself and receives a referral for repairs. The insurer transfers money to the organization's account.
The car service center is responsible for the timing and quality of work. Without proper quality, you can not sign the acceptance certificate, and in case of delay in repairs, you can demand that the service station pay a penalty.
What is common between cash payment and repairs under compulsory motor liability insurance?
Wear and tear accounting. The insurance company's expertise, when assessing the amount of damage, as required by the rules of compulsory motor liability insurance, will necessarily take into account the wear and tear of the parts being replaced. The only difference will be that in one case the amount equal to the amount of wear will not be received by the client, and in the other by the car service. Of course, the latter will definitely require the car owner to pay the difference in order to replace the damaged parts with new ones. Another option is that the car owner will be asked to find used spare parts with a similar degree of wear, which, in fact, is an unrealistic task.
Opportunity for the insurance company to understate the loss. The service station carries out repairs based on its own calculations, or according to calculations from the insurance company. Taking into account wear on replaced parts allows both to maneuver in this regard. For example, just before an accident, a car owner replaced some parts with new ones, and wear on them is calculated in accordance with the age of the car. By the way, this is why you should always keep receipts for work on replacing old parts, so that, if necessary, you can document that you are right. The assessment may also incorrectly determine when certain damages occurred (before or as a result of the accident).
In a word, even using a single methodology, different experts can easily calculate completely different amounts.
For example, the real damage amounted to 50,000 rubles, and the insurer counted 25,000 to be paid. And it does not matter to whom he should transfer the funds: to the client’s card or to the accounting department of the service station. The main thing is that bringing the car to the condition it was before the accident will require twice as much investment. Obviously, if the client chooses a natural payment method, the auto repair shop will require payment of the missing 25,000 rubles. And the car owner, outraged by the low estimate of the loss, will traditionally have to seek justice in court.
When is money better than a referral to a service station?
- It would be good if the service station informed the client that they were unable to make normal repairs for the amount determined by the insurer. A “bad” car service may not bother the client about this, but simply “make a mistake from what is there” or, for example, not pay attention to internal damage. With further use, all the shortcomings will be revealed, but it will be too late.
- The list of car services friendly to the insurance company may not include one that will satisfy the specific needs of the victim: proximity to home or place of work, good reputation, conscientious craftsmen, etc.
- It is not a fact that it will be possible to systematically monitor the process of restoration work, freely communicate with craftsmen and receive honest information.
In what case can you choose repair?
The idea of compensating for losses under compulsory motor liability insurance through repairs has long been implemented in CASCO insurance. Moreover, the vast majority of car owners prefer to choose repairs at a service station at the choice of the insurance company. It's really convenient! There is no need to waste precious time and nerves on all kinds of searches, just “hand over the scrap metal and take the swallow.” True, you cannot compare a highly profitable CASCO insurance with an unprofitable “automobile insurance”. However, in a certain situation, choosing repairs under MTPL will be more convenient than agreeing to a cash payment. For example, when there is no need to change spare parts (which means the possibility of manipulating wear is excluded), and we are talking only about body work. Especially if the proposed car service has proven itself quite well. And in case of poor-quality work, it will be possible not to sign the acceptance certificate until the claims are fully eliminated.
Unfortunately, until order is brought to the “automobile industry,” car owners will often find themselves in the situation: “no matter where you throw it, there’s a wedge everywhere.” You will have to fight with the insurance company over money, and with the car service over issues of quality. We look forward to the changes.
On April 28, 2017, amendments to the law “On compulsory motor third party liability insurance of vehicle owners” (OSAGO) came into force, according to which payment of monetary compensation is replaced by restoration repairs. This means that when considering an insured event, insurers will now give preference to issuing referrals rather than paying compensation, and it will be possible to receive monetary compensation for damage only in exceptional situations.
Important! Innovations in the law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance” apply only to contracts concluded after April 28, 2017, when new rules were introduced.
All victims of an accident in which the at-fault car owner took out insurance before April can, as before, choose monetary compensation if the contract has not yet expired (read more about the policy validity period, and we told you how to extend the validity period online) .
According to the new rules, car restoration will be carried out only using new spare parts, the cost of which the insurance company calculates using the methodology of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. The use of new spare parts will save the car owner from additional payments for the purchase of parts and the work of the service center.
A service station that has concluded an agreement with an insurance company has the right to repair a vehicle damaged in an accident, according to which the service station undertakes to restore the vehicle, and the insurer undertakes to pay for repairs. The owner of a car damaged in an accident can select a service station from the list proposed by the insurer, after which the insurance company issues a referral for repairs and pays for the service.
The official website of the insurance company should contain a list of service centers with which it has an agreement to organize restoration repairs. This list must be kept up to date.
If the car services offered by the insurance company are located more than 50 km from the scene of the accident or the permanent residence address of the victim, the insurer is obliged to organize delivery of the damaged vehicle to the place of restoration work.
The service station must meet the minimum requirements: provide a guarantee for the work performed, be geographically accessible and comply with repair deadlines. If the service station options offered by the insurer do not meet the requirements, the injured car owner can independently choose a service center for repairs and provide its details to the insurance company or request compensation in the form of a cash payment.
If less than 2 years have passed since the car was released, only the manufacturer’s official service center can carry out restoration repairs.
Before contacting your insurance company for restoration repairs, it is important.
In order to avoid getting into a situation where the policy is no longer valid, it is important to take care in time to conclude a new contract or renew an old one. Read about how many days before the end of the policy you can issue a new one.
What are the deadlines for the work?
After an accident, the victim must notify the insurer of the occurrence of an insured event as quickly as possible. After accepting the application from the owner of the damaged car, the insurer inspects the vehicle and issues a referral for restoration repairs.
The maximum period for issuing a referral to a service center to carry out restoration work on a vehicle should not exceed 20 days, excluding non-working days and holidays, from the date of the car owner’s request. Provided that the insurer has agreed to carry out repairs using a third-party service, the period for issuing such a referral should not exceed 30 calendar days(read more about the time frame for processing an insured event).
The period for carrying out restoration work at a service center or service station should not exceed one month - 30 working days. The countdown begins from the moment the injured party personally presents the damaged car to the service station, or from the moment the vehicle is transferred to the insurance company for transportation to the work site.
Important! The time frame for restoration work may exceed 30 days only in exceptional cases, if the vehicle has suffered complex damage that requires the use of special repair technology.
The duration of repair work depends on several factors:
- availability of parts and spare parts to be replaced;
- availability of consumables;
- the value of the damaged parts;
- availability of workers at the service center who can perform certain types of repair work;
- the presence of controversial issues related to the assessment of existing damage;
- the condition of the car and the extent of its damage;
- speed of transfer of funds by the insurer to the service station.
The duration of the assessment examination should not exceed 5 days, in case of delay, the car owner has the right to write a claim addressed to the head of the insurance company, and if pre-trial appeal does not help speed up the examination process, go to court.
Since April 2017, the priority way to receive compensation under MTPL is to repair the vehicle at a service station. You can also receive a cash payment, but under a number of circumstances established by law. Car repair under MTPL is regulated by the provisions of the Central Bank, the MTPL Rules and the federal law on compulsory motor vehicle insurance. How is a car sent for repairs after an accident? What is the insurer's workshop? What is the period for repairing a car under the MTPL policy? What difficulties may an injured car owner encounter when paying compensation in kind? We will try to answer these and other questions in this article.
How is referral for repairs made?
After an insured event occurs, the car owner must write an application to the insurance company to receive compensation. If his situation does not fit any of the provisions of the law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance” (clause 16.1 of Article 12), then insurance payment is made in kind. Under the law, payment in kind means restoration repairs of damaged vehicles under compulsory motor liability insurance. In order to receive a referral for car repair, you must follow the following algorithm:
- Notifying the insurance company about an accident;
- Collection of documents;
- PTS, STS, purchase and sale agreement, inheritance document or other;
- policy and insurance contract concluded by the parties;
- certificate of independent examination of the machine;
- receipts for payment of the examination;
- parking and tow truck payment receipts;
- driver's passport;
- power of attorney (if the application is submitted by a representative);
- bank details (if there will be a cash payment from insurance);
- notification of an accident;
- copies of the resolution and protocol of the traffic police;
- Drawing up an application for insurance payment and submitting it;
- Providing the car for inspection by the insurer within 5 days;
- Inspection of the car by the insurance company and sending the car for an independent examination.
After receiving all the documents, after assessing all the circumstances of the incident specified in the protocol or notification of the accident, after inspecting the car and an independent examination, the insurance company issues a referral for repairs within the time limits provided for by the MTPL Rules - 20 or 30 days. The repair order issued must contain the following information:
- Victim details;
- Information about the damaged vehicle;
- Details of the insurance contract and policy;
- Name of the service station that will do the restoration, address, details;
- The time frame within which the machine will be repaired;
- Amount of surcharge for repairs.
If contracts have been concluded between a number of service stations and an insurance company, then the policyholder himself can choose a specific car service from the list offered by the insurer. According to the terms of the agreement concluded between the parties, a certain car service may set restrictions on accepting cars, so the insurer’s client must carefully approach the choice. The insurance company that provided the direction for repairs under compulsory motor liability insurance is, according to the rules, responsible for its quality and compliance with deadlines, as well as for the timely transfer of money for repairs to the account of the service station.
Repair period under compulsory motor liability insurance in 2018
According to clause 4.17 of the OSAGO Rules, the repair time is determined by the car service center after inspecting the car. They can be agreed upon by the service station and the injured client of the insurer and indicated in the repair order or another document that the policyholder receives in hand after presenting his car to the service station. The same paragraph of the Rules indicates that the client has the right to change the time frame for repairing the car - to do this, he must contact the service with a written application.
The Law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance” in paragraph 15.2 of Article 12 establishes clear requirements for restoration services. They also relate to deadlines. Repairing a car after an accident cannot take more than 30 days from the moment the victim brought the damaged car to a service station or handed it over to the insurer for further transportation to a service station. If repairs under compulsory motor liability insurance took longer, the vehicle owner can send a complaint to the service station and the insurance company, which are obliged to consider it within 5 days.
Refurbishment procedure
The Law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance” in Article 12 indicates that the repair service must be located within accessibility of the scene of the accident or the victim’s place of residence - the distance cannot exceed 50 km. If the insurer is willing to pay for the delivery of the vehicle to the service station, then the distance can be any. Repairs under compulsory motor liability insurance in 2018 can be done either at an official dealer or at an insurer’s service station or station of the personal choice of the victim.
From an official dealer
If more than two years have not passed since the date of release of the car from the assembly line and it is subject to warranty obligations of an organization that has an agreement with the manufacturer or official distributor of this car brand, then the repairs are carried out by such an organization (dealer). But only on condition that an appropriate agreement has been concluded between her and the insurance company.
If the list of service stations of the insurer does not include an official dealer of the brand of car that was damaged in an accident, then in accordance with the law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance” (paragraph 6, clause 15.2 of Article 12), the insurer, with the consent of the client, can issue a referral for repairs under Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance from an official dealer . If there is no such consent, then the car owner can withdraw the insurance compensation in the form of a cash payment. The insurer must pay compensation within the legal limit of insurance payments - 400 thousand rubles or 100 thousand rubles if the accident was registered between the victim and the culprit according to the European protocol.
To the service station in the direction of the insurer
If the car owner chooses a service station from the insurance company’s list, then a contract is concluded between the three parties. It indicates the terms of free repairs, prices of spare parts, calculation of all repair work, and a list of them. If the cost of car repairs was estimated to be more than 400 thousand rubles of the insurer's liability limit, then the car owner himself will have to pay the remainder. Repairs must be carried out only using new parts; refurbished and used parts are not allowed.
The warranty for restoration repairs is six months, for body work and painting - 1 year.
After completing the repair, the service station hands over the vehicle to the car owner and gives an acceptance certificate for signature. The policyholder must carefully examine his car for uncorrected damage and restoration defects, and only then sign the document. If the repair turns out to be less than perfect, the car owner must resolve the issue through a claim procedure with the insurance company, since it is responsible for this work. If the car acceptance certificate is first signed, and then it is discovered that the repair of the car under compulsory motor liability insurance was carried out with deficiencies, claims to the service station or the insurance company will become meaningless. The claim must have the following content:
- Name of the insurance company;
- Address, contact details of the victim;
- Grounds for filing a claim;
- Requirements for the insurance company;
- Bank account in case the insurer pays the claims;
- Date, signature.
To his claim, the car owner must attach copies or originals of his passport, traffic police report, notification of an accident, compulsory insurance policy, documents certifying ownership of the car, PTS, STS. The insurer must arrange an inspection of the vehicle within 5 days. If as a result it becomes clear that repeated repairs are necessary, then a new referral to a service station is issued with the consent of the insured. If repeated repair is impossible or the client does not agree with it, then the insurance company is obliged to compensate for the damage through an insurance payment.
An insurance organization may leave a claim unsatisfied if not all documents are submitted, if the person filing the claim is not a victim and does not have a power of attorney to represent the rights of the victim, if the claim requires the payment of monetary compensation but does not provide details for the transfer of funds, and also if the car is not provided for inspection and recording of poor-quality repairs performed by a service station.
On a third party service
Clause 15.3 of Article 12 allows the victim to independently choose a service that is not included in the list of service stations-partners of the insurer, if none of them meets the requirements of the law. To receive a referral for repairs from a third-party service, you must obtain written permission from the insurance company. To speed up the process, the injured car owner must indicate the following in his application for insurance compensation:
- Name of the service, its location and contacts;
- Service station details.
If the insurance company agrees to send the damaged car for repairs under compulsory motor liability insurance to such a service station, it will cover all costs without taking into account wear and tear of spare parts. It is in the case that the car is sent for repair to a service not from its list, the insurer has the right to consider the policyholder’s application 10 days longer, that is, 30 days. If everything is agreed upon, but after a month the direction for repairs has not been received, the policyholder has the right to receive a penalty from the insurance company in the amount of 1% of the total amount of certain compensation for each overdue day in accordance with clause 4.22 of Central Bank Regulation No. 431-P dated 19.09 .2-14 g.
What to do if the cost is not covered?
The insurance company assesses the damage caused to the car using a unified methodology developed and approved by the insurance market regulator - the Central Bank. In some situations, during a vehicle examination, hidden damage or other defects may not be taken into account. Then the amount of compensation will be unfairly underestimated and the policyholder may be asked to cover the remaining costs of restoration repairs with personal money. The obligation to pay extra is not illegal in itself, but the main thing for the policyholder is to make sure that the insurance company’s calculations were correct.
The car owner can hire an independent expert to determine the cost of restoring his car and proceed further depending on the results. If an independent examination has confirmed the amount of the cost of restoration repairs determined by the insurance company, then there will be no other way but to pay extra money. If the examination report shows that the insurer’s calculation turned out to be incorrect, then the policyholder can refuse the additional payment and write a claim to the company and, if the company refuses to pay money, go to court with a claim. Judicial practice shows that if there are reliable results of an independent examination, the courts will satisfy such claims.
Example of a court decision
The driver of the car injured in the accident filed a claim in court, demanding to recover monetary compensation from Rosgosstrakh PJSC under the MTPL insurance policy. In support of the claims, it was stated that the insurer, after calculating the cost of repairs, sent him to a service station, transferring 86,300 rubles to its account. The victim did not agree with the amount and the need for additional payment for repairs and sent a claim to the insurer, which was not satisfied, and then went to court.
The court conducted a forensic examination, which showed that the amount of damage, taking into account wear and tear of parts, amounted to 101,577 rubles, the cost of repairs without taking into account wear and tear of parts was more than 140,000 rubles. Based on the difference in calculations, taking into account the partial fulfillment of obligations by the insurer and guided by current legislation, the court ordered Rosgosstrakh to pay part of the compensation, money in the form of a fine for failure to fulfill obligations on a voluntary basis and other legal expenses of the injured driver.
An injured driver may receive money in lieu of repairs in a number of situations. These include total loss of the car, death of the policyholder, personal injury, as well as cases where the victim is disabled. Another option for obtaining funds is to delay repairs. In this case, the victim may demand that the insurance company replace the type of compensation due to non-compliance with the provisions of the law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance” (Article 12). The insurer, as the person responsible for the repairs, is obliged to pay the client money. The next option is related to the distance to the service station - if it is more than 50 km, and the insurer cannot transport the car there on its own, then compensation will also be paid in money.
Clause 16 of Article 12 of the same legislative act states that if damage as a result of an accident is caused to other property of the insured (except for a car), then the damage is compensated by money by transfer to a bank account or issuance at the cash desk of the insurance company. If a truck is involved in an accident, the insurer cannot insist on repairs and the question of the compensation option is decided by the injured driver - he can choose repair work at a service station or money.