CASCO: general concept
CASCO is voluntary vehicle insurance. These capital letters are not an abbreviation, so the name cannot be deciphered.
By purchasing a policy, a car owner can insure his property against:
- traffic accident;
- theft (theft);
- falling objects and many other troubles that can cause damage to the car.
It is noteworthy that if you have a CASCO insurance policy, a car owner involved in an accident can count on receiving payment even if it was his actions that led to the collision. In order to obtain compensation for damage, the driver must strictly adhere to the terms of treatment and the procedure for action after an accident established by the traffic rules, the Insurance Rules and the terms of the contract.
Calculation of the payment amount
The permissible amount of compensation is determined by the terms of the contract. The policy provides for an aggregate and non-aggregate method of calculating damage.
The first option involves establishing a maximum CASCO payment in case of an accident for the entire period of 2021.
If a citizen has exhausted the limit of possible compensation during the insurance period, the car owner independently restores the car before the policy expires. The non-aggregate calculation method is to establish the maximum payment for each individual case.
Forms of Refund
Under CASCO, the car owner can receive monetary compensation or repair a vehicle damaged in an accident. The advantages of cash issuance are the independent choice of a service station, determination of the time frame for car restoration, and the occurrence of a total CASCO situation.
Attention! The main disadvantages of the form of compensation are the timely provision of a full set of correctly completed documents, a limit on the amount of cash payments for the year, and an underestimation of the amount of damage in the event of the initial unsatisfactory condition of the car or high mileage.
When choosing to repair a car, the client does not have to look for a service station. The vehicle is restored immediately after reviewing the documents.
The main disadvantages of the form of compensation:
- possibility of poor-quality repairs;
- loss of warranty when the car is restored not from an official dealer company;
- additional expenses at the personal expense of the car owner if the amount paid by the insurer exceeds;
- a long repair period in the absence of parts, the complexity of the work being carried out.
Car owners are provided with CASCO repairs without an accident. A certificate from the traffic police is not required if glass elements, body parts are damaged, scratches are received, or the paintwork is chipped. To carry out restoration work, information about possible compensation must be clarified with your own insurer.
CASCO and OSAGO: how do insurances differ?
Trying to protect themselves from troubles on the road, drivers often ask which insurance is better and more profitable - CASCO or OSAGO? In fact, these are completely different agreements, so it is impossible to talk about which one is better. Let's look at their main differences:
- CASCO is voluntary insurance, and OSAGO is mandatory. Every driver is required to have a valid motor vehicle insurance policy.
- The CASCO agreement allows you to receive compensation in cases that are not covered by the MTPL policy. For example, the insurance company will refuse to compensate for losses resulting from snow and ice falling from the roof or a collision with an animal.
- The content of the auto insurance agreement and the procedure for receiving payment is strictly regulated by the Federal Law of April 25, 2002 “On compulsory insurance of civil liability of vehicle owners” No. 40-FZ and is controlled by the RSA and the Central Bank of Russia. As for CASCO, there is no special law dedicated to this insurance. In their work, insurers rely on the standards established by the Federal Law of November 27, 1992 “On the organization of insurance business in the Russian Federation” No. 4015-1-FZ, the Insurance Rules and the terms of the contract.
Unlike the owner of voluntary insurance, the culprit of the accident, insured under OSAGO, will not receive compensation and will be forced to pay for car repairs at his own expense. The owner of a “car citizen” cannot count on a payment exceeding 400 thousand rubles (500 thousand for damage caused to health).
When concluding a contract, the owner of a CASCO policy decides for what and for what amount he wants to insure the car. Operating vehicles without a compulsory motor liability insurance policy is prohibited by law. A driver who violates this requirement will be held administratively liable and fined. You can use a car without voluntary insurance; the owner of the car decides for himself whether he needs it or not.
The party injured in the accident with a CASCO policy has the right to choose what payment to receive - under compulsory or voluntary insurance. Drivers often choose the second option, since if it is specified in the contract, compensation is paid without taking into account wear and tear. In the case of a “motor citizen” there is no such possibility.
What documents need to be submitted to the insurance company?
Each insured event is considered individually. To receive compensation, the vehicle owner must promptly submit documents to the insurer. We are talking about the following papers:
- application for payment;
- the applicant's identity card;
- CASCO or OSAGO policy;
- driver license;
- STS;
- vehicle inspection report (if the car was inspected by an accident commissioner);
- a resolution indicating the refusal to initiate a case;
- a protocol drawn up by a traffic police officer;
- notification of an accident.
If the owner of the car ordered an independent examination of the car, he must attach the corresponding act to the above papers. The documents are transferred to the insurer within 5 days from the date of the accident. Otherwise, the insurance company may refuse compensation to the applicant.
In the case of compulsory motor liability insurance, the injured party can seek compensation for damages in court. When applying for CASCO insurance, the likelihood of compensation depends only on the timely actions of the car owner.
Accident: procedure for subsequent actions of participants
Every driver should know how to behave after a collision. It does not matter whether the participants are insured under CASCO or only under MTPL. Necessary:
- turn off the engine and get out of the car;
- turn on the emergency lights and put up an emergency sign (in accordance with traffic regulations, it must be installed at a distance of 15 meters if the collision occurred within a populated area and 30 meters if outside it);
- check for victims (if there are any, you need to call an ambulance or send them to the hospital by passing transport);
- report the incident to the insurance company (the contract may provide for calling a representative of the insurance company to the scene of the incident, so you need to carefully re-read the document);
- call the traffic police or register the incident using the Europrotocol (you can choose the second option only if you are sure that all the requirements for using the Road Accident Notification are met).
In order not to forget anything, you can use the “Memo” or “Insurance Rules”. They are usually issued to clients upon signing a CASCO agreement.
Documents for CASCO insurance in case of a traffic accident
CASCO insurance payment is processed after the insurance company provides the following documentation:
- notifications of incidents;
- copies of the protocol listing the injuries received, issued by representatives of the traffic police based on the results of the investigation of the accident;
- driver's license of the person who was driving at the time of the accident;
- personal passport of the applicant.
Attention
After the adoption of new regulations on October 20, 2021, approved by Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 664, a certificate in Form 154 is excluded from the mandatory list of documentation for receiving insurance payment under CASCO.
Instead of a certificate of an accident, all other papers provided by the car owner must contain information, confirmed by the traffic police, on the following points:
- cars involved in the incident (indicating brands, models, registration numbers, VIN);
- passport information and residential addresses of drivers;
- OSAGO auto insurance;
- received injuries.
For your information,
a general list of required papers is provided to process a CASCO payment. The list can be supplemented in accordance with the insurance conditions provided by a particular company, so the motorist needs to familiarize himself in detail with the provisions of the contract and the rules of the insurance company presented on the official website.
Terms of payment of compensation and its amount
As we said earlier, the terms of compensation for damage under CASCO are regulated by the Insurance Rules and the contract itself. Typically, the period from application to payment takes from 2 to 4 weeks. It is not so easy to calculate what insurance compensation a car owner can expect. It matters what kind of insurance the car owner chooses. The sum insured may vary:
- aggregate,
- non-aggregate.
In the first case, the amount of payment decreases after the occurrence of each insured event, and in the second, the compensation remains unchanged.
Separately, I would like to note such an important concept as wear and tear of components and assemblies. It may or may not be taken into account when compensating for losses. This issue is discussed in advance and fixed in the text of the insurance contract. Naturally, it is beneficial for insurers to take into account wear and tear, therefore, before signing the document, I recommend that you read it carefully and delete (add) the corresponding clause. Amendments to the text of the agreement are permitted and not prohibited by law.
Refusal to pay compensation after an accident under CASCO and delays
Refusal to pay compensation may be legal or illegal. It will be quite difficult for a person who does not have the appropriate education to determine this on their own. Therefore, if you have been denied compensation for damages, take advantage of a free consultation with a car lawyer first. A lawyer will assess the situation and, if it turns out that the insurance company’s decision was illegal, will help restore justice. To protect the client’s rights, a specialist:
- prepare and send a claim to the Investigative Committee;
- will file a lawsuit;
- will ensure that the insurance company complies with the court decision.
A situation may also arise with delaying payment under CASCO (issuing a referral for repairs). Such cases usually happen when insurance companies take a long time to agree on the cost of restoring a vehicle or when there are a large number of calls to the insurance company. If there is a queue, insurers are required to notify the client in writing.
How to draw up an agreement to maximize the protection of your interests?
In order for the amount of payments under CASCO to cover all possible damage, you should carefully consider the calculation of correction factors. They have a direct impact on the final amount of payments. Correction factors are determined by the following factors:
- Year of manufacture of the car. Newer vehicles will incur more accident recovery costs because their parts are more expensive (due to the lack of wear and tear).
- Car make and model. Repairing prestigious brands and models is more expensive than their budget counterparts.
- Place of permanent operation of the vehicle. The larger the settlement, the denser and more intense the traffic in it and the more likely it is to get into an accident.
To understand the amount of costs and possible payments in case of an accident, you should use CASCO calculators. In this case, it is easier to predict risks and situations in which an insured event may occur.
