Europrotocol 2021: what it looks like, registration, submission to insurance

When can I apply?

Registration of the Europrotocol is provided only if all the following requirements are simultaneously met:

there are no victims;
Only two vehicles (including vehicles with trailers) are involved in the accident;
both drivers have valid MTPL policies
drivers are included in existing MTPL policies or if the vehicle is registered in a foreign country, the civil liability of the owner is insured within the framework of international insurance systems, taking into account the features provided for by law;
motorists assume that the damage does not exceed the maximum payment amount (100,000 rubles is the general rule);
both participants agree not to call the police;
the culprit has been identified.

If at least one of the requirements is not met, drivers are required to call the traffic police. The same applies to situations in which the circumstances of the accident are uncertain or the assessment of damage is difficult.

How to challenge the European protocol?

Not all drivers are well acquainted with Russian laws. Often, under pressure from an opponent, they make the wrong decision and admit that they are the guilty party in the accident. As a result, they agree to sign the European protocol and any documents that serve as confirmation of their guilt. But some time passes and, after consulting with lawyers, the “culprits” realize that they made a mistake.

What should a person do if he mistakenly considered himself guilty of an accident? Can he avoid liability and even claim money from the insurer in 2021?

Unfortunately, in Russia the European protocol has not received such wide distribution; accordingly, it is impossible to say anything definite about this. Each specific case is considered individually by both lawyers and insurance firms.

But what if your opponent is rude or intoxicated? Is it worth drawing up a European protocol?

Remember that no one has the right to force you to do anything against your will! A European protocol can only be drawn up when you come to a common opinion with another participant in a traffic accident. If you notice signs of aggression or disagree on something with another car driver, there can only be one way out: calling the traffic police.

What should the driver do?

An accident is a stressful situation, but the driver must quickly pull himself together and perform a number of simple actions:

Stop the car. Regardless of the surrounding circumstances, you cannot continue moving. You need to leave the car and roughly assess the damage.
Put up a warning triangle.
Record on a photo or video camera the scene of the accident, damage, license plates and brake marks.
Obtain personal information of witnesses: full name, address, telephone number. It is advisable to ask for written testimony.
Fill in the form.

What to do after filling out the European protocol?

So, the document is completely filled out and signed by both drivers - there are no mutual claims, which means you can continue driving. But the rights and obligations associated with an accident do not stop there. According to current legislation, both the victim and the culprit must submit notices to their insurance companies within 5 days. The culprit must also be ready to show his car to the insurer, otherwise the insurer has the right to make recourse claims. We wrote more about this, as well as about the risks that arise when drawing up a European protocol, here. We strongly recommend reading it!

In addition to a copy of the accident notification form filled out by the drivers, the victim, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 11 of the Federal Law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Liability Liability Insurance” and clause 2 of the compulsory motor liability insurance rules, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 1, 2014 N 1002, within five working days from the date of the accident, the following documents and materials must be submitted to the insurer that insured its civil liability: • an application for direct compensation for losses; • electronic media with information containing photo or video filming of vehicles and their damage at the scene of an accident, the date and time of photo or video filming, as well as the coordinates of the location of the technical control device; • a statement that the information containing photographs or videos is uncorrected.

How to fill out the Europrotocol

The Road Accident Notification form itself is issued by the insurance company when applying for a policy, but if the form is left at home, you can download it from the official website and print it out.

Filling out the paper takes place in two stages. The circumstances of the accident are described on the front side, and additional information is reflected on the back side.

It is necessary to fill out 2 forms (according to the number of participants in the accident).

You must enter in the form:

The scene of the accident. If we are talking about a route, you must indicate the name and kilometer.
The exact date.
Number of damaged vehicles (one or two).
Number of victims (none).
Inspection (not carried out).
Information about material damage. If a personal item in the car, for example a laptop, is damaged, it is also indicated in the document to receive compensation.
Contacts of witnesses.
Registration of traffic police officers (not carried out).
Information about the vehicle.
Driver data.
Information about the insurer.
Numbers and validity periods of OSAGO.
First strike diagram.
Detailed list of damages.

Next, you need to describe the accident and draw up a diagram. It marks the section of the road where the accident occurred, including street names, house numbers, markings, signs, and traffic lights. Next, the vehicles (A and B) are drawn with rectangles, highlighting the direction with arrows, and the impact with a cross. It is useful to indicate skid marks, potholes and other details related to the accident. Below each symbol is given a description.

At this stage, the front side of the form is completed. On the back, you must indicate the circumstances of the accident from the driver’s point of view and the person driving at the time of the accident. They also describe damage to personal belongings and note the presence of photo or video recording.

Any corrections are confirmed by the signatures of both parties.

What does the 2021 European protocol look like?

The European protocol is a very convenient thing for drivers, but in 2021 there are some difficulties and conventions, due to non-compliance with which victims in an accident may be left without compensation. To prevent this from happening, you need to document the accident correctly.

The 2021 European Protocol Notice consists of a front (self-copying) part and a back side. All the information that you entered on the front area is printed on the sheet located below. The notification form has two columns (“A” or “B”). Each driver can select one of them and enter the relevant information into it.

The front area of the 2021 European Protocol contains fields in which data about the location, date and time of a traffic accident is entered, as well as information about the participants in the accident, witnesses to the incident, the insurance company, the presence of visible damage to structural elements, and other important circumstances.

The reverse side of the document contains columns where additional information about vehicles and accidents is indicated.

Recommendations for filling

Claims are made for incorrectly completed documents. Problems often arise if the driver:

fills out the form with a pencil;
writes illegibly (when the handwriting is peculiar, it is better to use block letters);
makes mistakes, blots (if there are any, it is advisable to take new paper);
leaves empty fields;
uses abbreviations for passport data.

You should familiarize yourself with these requirements before starting to fill out the document.

Amount of damage when registering a European protocol

In 2021, for the registration of the European protocol, certain restrictions are established that limit the amount of possible compensation for damage. According to paragraphs 4 – 5 of Art. 11.1 of Law No. 40-FZ, independent drawing up of a document based on the results of an accident by drivers is possible if the maximum amount of damage is:

from 0 to 100 thousand rubles . In case of damage to a car up to 100 thousand rubles, participants in an accident can draw up a Europrotocol using a regular form, even if there are disagreements, without registering the accident in the “Road Accident.Europrotocol” application.
from 100,000 to 400 thousand rubles . When the damage to a vehicle ranges from 100 thousand to 400 thousand rubles, mutual agreement is required on the guilt of one of the participants in the accident and it is necessary to resort to registering the accident in the mobile application “DTP.Europrotocol”.

For your information,
you can download and install the application on your gadget in the App Store for Apple products or in Google play for Android smartphones for free. If the specified technical capabilities are not available, the rule of limiting the limit to one hundred thousand rubles will apply to everyone.

Help with registration

Drivers do not always cope with the Europrotocol on their own. However, if motorists still do not want to call the traffic police, they can seek help. It is provided by the insurer. Drivers can call the company manager, who will advise them remotely.

The mobile application “OSAGO Assistant” (available on Android or iOS) may also be useful - free and easy-to-use step-by-step instructions for filling out. But, unfortunately, the application is not available for residents of some regions. This application only works if the State Services application with an active profile is already installed on your phone. To enter your personal account, the user enters the login and password with which he registered on the State Services portal. The service will begin dictating steps and asking questions, and will display windows for entering personal data. Motorists will only need to draw a diagram.

There are also other private companies that offer assistance in filling out, but we do not recommend contacting such organizations for security reasons - to avoid transfer of your personal and other personal data to third parties.

Repair according to European protocol

During the first 15 days after the accident, the cars of both participants in the accident cannot be sent for repairs. Any restoration work is prohibited. Of course, exceptions to the rules are possible, but this should only be done with the written permission of the insurer.

However, if the car is running, you can still drive it. Most often, cars whose owners have issued a European protocol have minor dents, scratches and chips. That is why further operation of the car is allowed, but not repairs. During the 15-day waiting period, traffic police officers can stop the damaged vehicle. To avoid trouble, a copy of the notice sent to the insurance company will again help you.

Reasons for refusal of payments

more than two participants in an accident;
There are people injured;
The culprit has not been identified.
The protocol was declared invalid:

The form is signed by only one participant.
At least one of the signatures is missing: signatures are placed twice on the front side of the paper. On the back - once.
The information is unreadable. This applies not only to handwriting, but also to defects: drips, stains.

The MTPL policy is unsuitable: expired, counterfeit or missing.
The testimonies of the participants differ.
The person at fault for the accident is not included in the policy.
Information is incomplete (empty columns).
The information is incorrect (for example, the wrong number on the license plate). Sometimes the insurance company gives the opportunity to correct the mistake, but it is more profitable for it to invalidate the document.
Corrections and errors are the most common reason for failure. The reliability of the information and the correctness of its entry are also important. The company may refuse even due to a grammatical, punctuation error, etc.
Violation of the deadlines for notifying the insurance company and obtaining the necessary documents (insurance companies often take advantage of the fact that people cannot prove the fact of timely contacting the insurance company because they do not have marks of acceptance of documents).
damage that is not subject to compensation. This category includes moral damage, non-insurable cases (accidents involving a training vehicle, intentional accidents, etc.), situations where damage assessment is impossible.
did not send the Notification form (Europrotocol) to the insurance company within the deadline (5 days)

Refusal by notice

The most common reasons for insurer refusal in 2021 to provide compensation payments under the European protocol:

Failure to meet deadlines. If the injured party does not provide the protocol form within 5 days, the insurer has every right to refuse payments.
Carrying out repair work within 15 days from the date of the incident. It is almost impossible to legally challenge the right of an insurance organization to refuse payments.
Errors are less common when filling out the form. Or rather, they occur often, but in most cases they represent easily removable inaccuracies.

Material damage to the culprit

When drawing up a European protocol, you need to carefully ensure that the damage caused to the vehicle is within 100,000 rubles. This is the limit that applies throughout the country. This means that the insurance company, regardless of the actual cost of repairs, will not return more than this amount.

In the capital and in the Moscow region, as well as in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, an unlimited Euro protocol operates. This means that they can return an amount of up to 400,000 rubles. In this case, mandatory conditions must be met, including recording the accident on the recorders + pressing the “SOS” button.

The client does not have the right to re-apply for a refund from the insurance company within the same insured event. For example, the actual cost of repairs was 150,000, the insurance company paid out 100,000, and you won’t be able to claim more.

The injured party may claim all costs in excess of the insurance compensation directly from the culprit. Moreover, you can request an amount without taking into account wear and tear, which means the cost of new components. It is rare that the culprit agrees voluntarily to such a scheme. Then the issue is resolved in court.

The amount of debt incurred by the culprit to the injured person due to insufficient insurance compensation is formed from the cost of actual costs. All receipts and bills for repairs are collected. Additionally, the violator will pay the costs of legal proceedings.

How to protect yourself from unexpected expenses

To avoid further legal proceedings with the insurance company and the second participant in the accident, the culprit needs to act thoughtfully at the scene of the accident. So, the cost of damage. You need to clearly assess which parts are damaged. It is better to contact the dealer of a specific car brand to find out the current cost of parts.

Do not rely on the injured party's opinion regarding the cost of repairs. He may unintentionally mislead you due to simple ignorance. Or he acts this way intentionally in order to get a refund without taking into account wear and tear.

As for interaction with the insurance company. Comply with company requirements on time. Follow the rules of the law, not the oral recommendations of agents. Be sure to request a paper confirming the receipt of the package of documents from you. If there is evidence that you are right, you can prove it in court.

If the culprit has even the slightest doubt about the amount of damage or the correctness of the entire procedure, you need to call the traffic police inspectors. Yes, you will have to spend time and effort on the challenge, carrying out all the required stages. At the same time, you will receive a guarantee that you will not be required to pay compensation in the future.

What happens if you do not report an accident to the insurance company?

Until May 1, 2021, paragraphs were in effect. “G”, paragraph 1, article 14 of the law “On OSAGO”, which clearly stated that if the culprit of the accident, within 5 days from the moment of the accident, does not transfer his copy of the accident notice to the insurance company, and in fact does not notifies the insurance company, in violation of paragraph 2, article 11.1 of the law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance”, then this threatens the culprit with a recourse claim from the insurance company.

Recourse from the insurance company involves the recovery from the culprit of the accident of the amount of damage paid as compensation for damage to the victim. You got into an accident, you are the culprit, the damage, for example, amounted to 80,000 rubles, you filed an accident according to the European Protocol, the insurance company paid the victim this money, and since the culprit did not notify the insurance company about the accident within 5 days, the insurance company will recover from him the entire amount of damage paid to the victim, in this case 80,000 rubles, by way of recourse.

But do not worry if you did not submit your copy of the notice and did not notify the insurance company within the required 5 days. If the accident occurred after May 1, 2021, then paragraphs. “G”, paragraph 1, article 14 of the law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance”, ceased to be valid at that time, as it had lost force.

But if the accident occurred before May 1, 2021, was issued according to the European Protocol and the notice was not submitted to the insurance within 5 days, then there will be a regression that I spoke about, since before May 1, 2019, paragraphs. “G”, paragraph 1, article 14 of the law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance” was in effect.

At the moment, there is a requirement to notify the insurance company and you can notify it about an accident using any of the methods I described. But if you did not notify in due time, then there is no actual liability for this, at least as of August 21, 2020.

If there are changes, I will definitely update the article.

But know that if pp. “G”, paragraph 1, article 14 of the law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance” has lost force, then there are no other provisions of the law under which recourse can be obtained.

Read on.