Terms for payment of insurance compensation under compulsory motor liability insurance in case of an accident: by law, the insurance company must consider the application within 20 calendar or working days?

How to file a traffic accident?

If the following conditions are met, then the accident can be registered using a European protocol:

damage in the accident was caused only to vehicles and there were two of these vehicles,
both drivers agree with the circumstances of the accident and the list of visible damage to the cars,
there were no injuries or fatalities in the incident,
The liability of both drivers is insured under MTPL (there are valid MTPL policies).

To do this, it is necessary to fill out the notice together, with each driver signing both sheets of the notice on the front side. Each of the participants in the accident fills out the back side themselves.

If at least one of the above conditions is not met, if there are victims or damage to other property is caused, then traffic police officers must handle the registration of the accident. They record all the circumstances and issue documents with which the victim will go to the insurance company.

Sometimes so-called emergency commissioners arrive at road accidents. These are not traffic police officers and they do not have the right to register an accident, but there is apparently some kind of agreement between the traffic police officers and these commissioners, so the latter record the circumstances and then transfer the materials to the traffic police.

You can entrust the registration to emergency commissioners only at your own peril and risk... If, when registering an accident, they indicate something or do something incorrectly, there will be no one to ask.

Likewise, if they lose or do not transfer the material to the traffic police, then registering the accident again will be extremely problematic, sometimes even impossible. Sometimes commissioners are not shy about demanding money for their work, so decide for yourself in advance whether, in the event of an accident, you will trust them or insist on the arrival of police officers.

Who receives payment under compulsory motor liability insurance and how?

Compensation is assigned to those citizens who were included in the MTPL policy and participated in the insured event. To receive the maximum payment, you must contact the insurance company, providing a document from the traffic police and a car.

There are situations when you cannot receive an amount for damage caused:

if a citizen who is not included in the policy was involved in an accident;
if the amount of compensation exceeds 400 thousand rubles;
if the culprit of the accident was a driving school student, and the incident occurred on the territory of the training ground.

Accruals are assigned under the compulsory motor liability insurance of the participant in the accident who is considered the guilty party.

Independent examination after an accident

To determine the amount of payment, the company appoints a technical examination within 5 days after the victim submits the application.

The examination is carried out under general agreements (time and place are specified) that satisfy both the victim and the expert.

From August 24, 2021, the injured party is required to agree on the details with the expert at least 3 days before the procedure itself.

Documents for receiving payment

The victim must provide the following documents to the insurance company:

the applicant's civil passport;
driver license;
vehicle registration document;
insurance;
application for payment in accordance with the agreement (completed sample);
notification of an accident;
examination report;
documents confirming the expenses of the car owner.

The decision on the final list of documents is made by the insurance company.

Deadlines for submitting an application to the insurer

An insurance claim must be submitted within 5 days of the accident. In this case, the policy must be valid for at least 1 year.

Damage payment period

Payment under compulsory motor liability insurance is provided within 20 days (holidays are not taken into account). During this period, an assessment of the damage that occurred due to the accident must be carried out.

If the insurance company delays payment under compulsory motor liability insurance, then the claim should be sent to the insurers in writing. The injured party has the right to demand compensation for the penalty: 1% of the total amount for each day of delay.

What documents are needed to apply for compulsory motor liability insurance?

The set of documents for the insurance company will depend on what kind of accident there was and how it was processed.

A complete list of them in case of damage to the property of victims is indicated in clause 3.10 and clause 4.13 of the Insurance Rules. The victim whose accident was registered according to the European protocol will have the most minimal set. This:

application for payment
accident notification,
passport of the beneficiary (owner) of the car,
as well as documents confirming ownership of the car (most often an STS is suitable, but formally this is a purchase and sale agreement).

Those victims whose accidents were registered by police officers will also have to provide:

a copy of the administrative violation protocol,
resolutions in a case of an administrative offense or rulings on the refusal to initiate a case of an administrative offense.

And those who were injured in an accident and their health was harmed are forced to collect the largest set of documents, since it will be necessary to provide medical documents:

certificates from a medical organization,
conclusion of a forensic medical examination,
documents in case of loss of earnings and in some cases other documents.

A complete list of these documents can be found in Chapter 4 of the Insurance Rules.

Additional documentation in case of injury to health

For different insurance cases, the MTPL Rules require the car owner to provide the insurance company with different documents to receive payment under MTPL. In case of loss of professional or general ability to work in accordance with clause 51 of the Rules, you will need:

A conclusion from a medical institution describing the diagnosis, the nature of the injuries and injuries, and the period of disability.
Conclusion on the degree of loss of general or professional ability to work.
Certificate of average monthly income (earnings, pension, etc.).
Other documents to confirm lost average monthly income.

In the event of the loss of a breadwinner in the event of an accident, persons entitled to compensation provide:

An application, including information about the family members of the deceased and his dependents.
Birth certificate of the child or children who were dependent on the victim.
If dependent persons were disabled, a certificate of disability is provided.
If the deceased had dependents studying at an educational institution in his care, a certificate from that institution will be required.
If there were dependent persons in need of outside care, a certificate of the need for outside care from a medical institution is provided.

In the absence of any required document when submitted to the insurance company, the latter is obliged to notify the victim about this within three working days from the date of receipt by mail or on the day of application (in person), informing him what additional documents are needed for payment under compulsory motor liability insurance.

What is the deadline for applying for payment?

In the Law on Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance, current for 2021, the deadline for filing an application is specified only for the case of registration of an accident under the European protocol - as soon as possible, but no later than five working days after registration of the accident. But violation of this deadline cannot be the reason for refusal of insurance compensation. Therefore, we can say that in general, the period for contacting an insurance company is not strictly regulated.

You should rely only on the statute of limitations, which will begin to count from 21 days after contacting the insurance company with a full set of documents, and which is 3 years.

And in cases of harm to the life and health of the victim, there is no statute of limitations for contacting the insurer under compulsory motor liability insurance.

According to Art. 208 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the statute of limitations does not apply to claims for compensation for harm caused to the life or health of a citizen.

But all of the above is rather applicable in some exceptional cases, because each of us will try to receive compensation for damage as quickly as possible, because even by contacting the insurer as soon as possible, you can wait for payment for a year or even more, but we will talk about this further .

How long should I wait for insurance payment?

All these payment terms for motor vehicle insurance are regulated by the Federal Law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance”. In particular, Part 21 of Article 12 of this law states that the period for payment of insurance compensation is 20 calendar days, excluding non-working holidays, from the date of acceptance of all documents from you, including an application for insurance payment:

21. Within 20 calendar days, with the exception of non-working holidays, and in the case provided for in paragraph 15.3 of this article, 30 calendar days, with the exception of non-working holidays, from the date of acceptance for consideration of the victim’s application for insurance compensation or direct compensation for losses and the attached to it documents provided for by the rules of compulsory insurance, the insurer is obliged to make an insurance payment to the victim or, after inspection and (or) independent technical examination of the damaged vehicle, issue the victim a referral for repair of the vehicle indicating the service station where his vehicle will be repaired and where the insurer will pay for the restoration repair of the damaged vehicle, and the repair period, or send the victim a reasoned refusal of insurance compensation.

Can I contact my insurance company?

You can not only contact your insurance company, but, more often than not, you even need to contact them exclusively. Based on the number and nature of accidents that occur in our country, most often they meet the requirements for direct compensation for losses.

The victim makes a claim for compensation for damage caused to his property to the insurer who insured the civil liability of the victim, if the following circumstances exist simultaneously:
a) as a result of a traffic accident, damage was caused only to the vehicles specified in subparagraph “b” of this paragraph;
b) a traffic accident occurred as a result of the interaction (collision) of two or more vehicles (including vehicles with trailers), the civil liability of the owners of which is insured in accordance with this Federal Law.

In other cases, you should contact the culprit's insurer. And in some cases, victims have to apply to the RSA for compensation.

What to do if your payment was refused or you paid little?

It is possible to sound the alarm already 21 days after the day of submitting the full set of documents to the insurer, but it is not entirely correct. The insurer has every right to send you a referral for repairs in a simple letter, via mail, and doing this on the 19th day of the term will not violate anything. Therefore, it is best to wait at least 7 days, in case a letter was sent to you, and only then start a dispute with the insurer.

Before calling, writing or going to the insurer, we strongly recommend that you carefully read and study the following materials: Article 16.1 of the Law on Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance and our article about the financial ombudsman.

Do not forget that compulsory motor liability insurance currently represents “partial insurance”, that is, even if the insurer calculates and evaluates everything correctly, the payment made to you or the service station may not be enough for repairs. In this case, the remaining damage must be recovered from the culprit of the accident.

Will I receive a payment or repair?

In 2021, for individuals whose vehicle is registered in the Russian Federation, priority has been established for in-kind compensation for damage (repairs at a service station) rather than payment of the cost of restoration repairs in cash.

But there are exceptions in which the insurer is obliged to pay in cash. This happens in the following cases:

complete loss of the vehicle;
death of the victim;
causing serious or moderate harm to the health of the victim as a result of an insured event (must be indicated separately in the application);
if the victim is a disabled person specified in paragraph one of paragraph 1 of Article 17 of the Law on Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance (must be indicated separately in the application);
if the cost of restoration repairs exceeds the limits of 400,000 and 100,000 rubles, depending on the method of registering the accident;
if, in accordance with paragraph 22 of the Law on Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance, the fault is recognized as mutual, and the participants in the accident do not agree to pay extra at the car service center;
if the car service does not meet the requirements for repairing your car (for example, the insurance company does not have contracts with official dealers, and your car is less than 2 years old);
if the insurer cannot organize repairs at the station that the victim chose when concluding the MTPL contract and the victim does not agree to have the car repaired at another station;
existence of a written agreement between the insurer and the victim (beneficiary).

Read more about the choice between payment and repair in our previous article: Repair or money: who chooses, the insurance company or the car owner, and which is better?

Payment for property damage

In order to receive insurance money payments for the restoration of a vehicle damaged in an accident, it is necessary to submit an application for payment of damage within the established time frame to the insurer company where the person responsible for the accident is insured. Why draw up the necessary list of documents.

Depending on the situation, different documents are drawn up.

A European protocol is drawn up between two participants in an accident if two cars were damaged, there were no casualties among people, both drivers have compulsory MTPL insurance, and the damage caused to the car does not exceed 100 thousand rubles, in Moscow and St. Petersburg 400 thousand, subject to the presence of a DVR and GPS navigation systems GLONASS. When drawing up a European protocol, you don’t have to call a traffic police inspector or fill out a certificate of an accident or a protocol of an administrative violation. A special approved form of the European protocol is issued to the car owner when purchasing an insurance policy. In 2021, in case of an accident under the European protocol, the maximum prices approved for the capitals of Moscow and St. Petersburg will be valid in all regions of the country, starting from October.

If the participants in the traffic accident were unable to peacefully resolve issues of compensation for material damage, then it is imperative to call an employee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and a representative of the insurance company. Then they formalize

A protocol on the accident that occurred, which indicates:

The exact number of people involved in the accident, their personal data (last names, first names, patronymics, telephone numbers and email details),
the correct time and correct place where the accident occurred, indicating the longitude and latitude according to the navigation system, as well as the reasons that caused the accident,
complete information about the cars involved in accidents (name and make of the car, year of manufacture, technical condition before the accident, who is the owner),
conclusion on the health status of drivers, as well as the content of alcohol, drugs, tranquilizers in their blood,
the accident occurred accidentally or intentionally,
information about all detected damage to vehicles in the incident.

IMPORTANT !!! It is advisable to have all copies of documents drawn up by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the scene of the accident, and also to ensure that the information entered into the protocol is correct. A protocol filled out with corrections and errors is considered invalid. You should especially take care of a copy of the accident certificate, which identifies the other driver as the culprit of the accident.

The amount of compensation money depends on many factors, including:

year of car manufacture,
price of spare parts,
accounting for wear of individual units,
repair rates applicable in the region.

The average payment is now 66 thousand rubles, and the officially established maximum amount of monetary compensation for car repairs is 400 thousand rubles.

Agreement between the insurer and the victim

Separately, it is necessary to tell you about this particular case of monetary compensation, since insurers, taking advantage of the inattention of the victims and their lack of a complete understanding of the situation, are inclined to sign agreements that are often not beneficial to the victims.

Read carefully what you are asked to sign. The agreement can be either simply to replace the method of compensation from repairs to a cash payment, or an agreement to pay a specific amount that is specified in this agreement.

If the form of compensation is changed from repair to payment, everything is more or less “safe”, the insurer inspects the car, calculates the damage and makes a payment, everything is as it was before.

The most interesting thing is when the insurer offers to sign an agreement indicating a specific amount of insurance compensation . He indicates this amount based on the inspection of the vehicle. But this does not mean that the agreement indicates the full amount of damage that was calculated.

Often, insurance companies inspect cars superficially, without disassembling or examining hidden damage.

After such an incomplete inspection, you will not even know the entire list of damage to your car, not to mention the full amount of restoration repairs.
After such an inspection, the agreement does not indicate the full amount of damages that you agree to. And by signing such an agreement, you waive further claims against the insurer; there will definitely be a clause about this in the text of the agreement.

As a result, you may receive only a small part of the insurance compensation, which will not be enough to repair the car.

It is very difficult to challenge this agreement in court in 2021, but it is possible... You need to recognize such an agreement as invalid and prove that the insurer conducted an incomplete inspection of the vehicle and did not indicate all the damage, as a result of which you could not adequately assess the damage and make the right choice.

The largest players in the MTPL market, such as Rosgosstrakh, Ingosstrakh, Alfa Insurance, RESO - almost all insurance companies actively pay out insurance compensation in cash with the signing of agreements, so carefully read the papers that you are given to sign and do not make rash decisions. It’s better to take a break and consult a lawyer.

Deadlines for payment of compulsory motor insurance insurance as required by law

Many residents of our country often ask the question: what is the real payment period for compulsory motor insurance insurance? To answer this question, you should understand a little about the rules of the insurance organizations under which they operate.

In most cases, the approximate period during which employees of the insurance company are obliged to provide the client with the due payment was fifteen days or a calendar month. This period is determined by the provisions of the Federal Law “On Compulsory Insurance of Civil Liability of Vehicle Owners” or OSAGO. The fifteen-day period for providing payments due to clients is quite short, so it quickly lost its relevance. More acceptable to clients, and a thirty-day period for providing clients with monetary compensation from the insurer is still in effect. According to the new amendments, a twenty-day period for the provision of payments is also welcome, which begins to operate on September 1, 2014. Therefore, we can conclude that the legislation adopted a shorter period for providing payments.

In Article 13. About insurance payments. Employees of the insurance company consider the client’s application for the need to provide insurance payments, and are also guided by the rules provided for by the attached papers. These documents are valid no later than thirty days from the date of their receipt. It is during this period that the insurance organization is obliged to pay the client the due amount or refuse to pay him in writing.

Insured event in case of an accident OSAGO. Find out how to challenge payments under compulsory motor liability insurance here.

Find out what to do if the insurance company refuses to pay you under compulsory motor liability insurance in the article:

According to the available periods of compensation, all varieties of insurance companies are divided into the following categories.

The first category includes the entire list of large insurance companies popular in our country. Their main difference is providing clients with the required payments, strictly according to the specified deadlines. The payments provided by these companies often differ several times from the damage received. To receive the due amount in full, the client has to sue these companies. This category of companies does not delay the provision of compensation for an insured event, and if this suddenly happens, it will not be for long.
The second category includes fairly small insurance companies that are little known among the population of our country. These organizations most often delay the provision of payments for an insured event, including within the framework of the MTPL policy. The reason for this may be a lack of money in the insurer's account. In practice, there are many cases where payments from such companies have not been received by clients for years. To restore justice and speed up the process of receiving payments, clients are advised to sue these companies or wait for their existing license to be revoked, and then receive their due through the activities of the Russian Union of Auto Insurers.

Tip #1! If your company delays providing you with the required payments under the MTPL policy for just one day, you can go to the legal department or office and consult with a lawyer about further actions.

If, during the consultation, lawyers point out problems in the financial situation of the insurance company, you can choose and discuss with a specialist a strategy for further actions to receive the money due. Many legal consultations on such issues are absolutely free, so you shouldn’t wait in vain for money, but take action yourself.

Tip #2! If the insurer violated the deadline for providing monetary compensation under compulsory motor liability insurance for at least one day, you are entitled to pay a penalty.

It is only worth considering the fact that the amount of the resulting penalty is one hundred, which is accrued to the injured party no more than the amount of the insured amount for the indemnified type.

How to receive payment in lieu of repairs?

If your insured event does not fall under the above exceptions to the general rule, and an agreement to pay you was either not offered, or it is unprofitable, then these are not all the ways you can get a payment in money.

The victim has the right to change the form of insurance compensation from repair to cash payment if the insurer or station violates his rights.

Remember how long the insurer is given to issue a referral for repairs, that’s right, 20 days. If the deadline has passed and there is still no direction, is the victim obliged to wait until the Investigative Committee deigns to organize repairs - no. In this case, the victim has the right to demand payment in money.

If the insurance company sent the referral within twenty days, but it arrived outside this 20-day period, then you are obliged to provide the car to the service station, and within the period specified in the referral.

If the period specified in the direction has already expired while the letter was being sent or is about to expire, and you do not have time to return the car to the service station, then you are obliged to provide the car for repairs within a reasonable time after receiving this direction. This was indicated by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in paragraph 60 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 58 of December 26, 2021.

If your service center does not accept the car for repairs, and the 20-day period has already passed, and the insurer cannot issue you a new referral, then you also have the right to demand payment in money.

They may accept the car, but require additional payment for repairs, since the amount agreed with the insurer is clearly not enough for normal repairs. You have the right to refuse the additional payment, whatever it may be, and receive payment of the insurance compensation in cash.

It is still possible that the car will be accepted for repair and no additional payment will be required. But the repairs will not begin. In this case, if the service station does not begin timely restoration repairs or performs repairs so slowly that completing it on time becomes clearly impossible, the victim has the right to change the method of compensation for damage and demand payment of insurance compensation in the amount necessary to eliminate the defects and complete restoration repairs. (Clause 53 of the RF PPVS No. 58 dated December 26, 2017).

What to do if you are not satisfied with the amount of payment under compulsory motor insurance

It may seem to the driver that the amount of payment under compulsory motor liability insurance is deliberately underestimated; in such a situation, the injured party has the right to request the results of the examination, which was carried out by the insurance company.

If a discrepancy is noticed , you must seek an independent examination yourself. Its results will serve as proof that the assigned compensation cannot cover the repair work as much as possible.

The next step: an attempt to solve the problem peacefully; for this, a pre-trial claim is drawn up. This should be done within 20 days after the insurance company pays the underestimated amount to the victim.

If the decision was not made in favor of the injured party, you need to go to court. It is recommended to use the help of a traffic lawyer.

How to take your car in for repairs?

A separate article could be written on this topic, because there are so many repair services, so many different situations there can be, but there is no universal way to return the car.

Let's dwell on some fundamental rules that should be followed in any service.

When coming to a service station to have your car repaired, you must understand that words cannot be matched to deeds . If it comes to court, then you must have evidence of what happened at the station and how, who said what and did what. To do this, it is necessary to record audio and video from the very beginning, and in such a way that it is clear when and where you arrived, to what address, to what service, what car you are going to take for repairs, in what direction. Who are you communicating with and who is present besides you. It is better if you are with a witness who, by the way, can conduct video recording. Filming can be done either covertly or openly, depending on the situation, the main thing is that there is no conflict and you are not harmed.
Signing up for a car service – forget about it! If you called the service station to arrange your visit? and you are told that the nearest date when you can be received is in a week/two/month, then you can listen to this information only in one case—if the deadline indicated in the repair referral allows you to arrive, say, in a week. If the deadline has already passed or they offer dates outside the deadline, then you should not rely on them. In any case, you must return the car for repairs either within the period specified in the referral or within a reasonable time from the receipt of the referral (7 days), as described above. Come without an invitation. You are always welcome!
The insurer issues you a referral for repairs. It is for repairs that this is important. After all, when you arrive at a service station with this direction, in most cases they will tell you that the car must first be disassembled, inspected, the cost of repairs calculated, this cost agreed upon with the insurer, spare parts ordered, and only after all this they will be able to accept the car from you directly for repairs. But all this had to be done and agreed upon by the insurer, and within the 20 days allotted for this by law. Not including ordering spare parts. But this is also the concern of the service, where and what to order.
The restoration period begins to be calculated only from the moment the car is handed over directly for repair . By law, this period should not exceed 30 working days. This must be remembered and taken into account when communicating with service station employees. If you just show the car and then drive away, the repair period will not begin to count, and you can wait for more than one month to agree on the amount with the insurer, and almost an eternity for the repaired car.
Showing the car and driving it back without leaving it at the service center is possible only in one case - if they write to you in the direction or in some form that you presented the car to the service station on such and such a date, and the repair period begins to be calculated from that day. Just so that your car does not take up space, it will be accepted later, directly for repairs, which out of these thirty may take 2-3 days.
Direction . There is no single form, the Central Bank did not bother to approve it, which the insurers took advantage of. Each insurance company has its own direction and, of course, its own text in it. Read the entire direction carefully. Especially the one in small font. Very often the document states that you agree to increase the repair period, to use used or non-original spare parts, that you are ready to pay for something, pay extra, and the like. You are simply asked to sign the referral and are not told any of this. You must write on your own, in writing, in the direction that you do not agree with such and such conditions and do not give your consent to something. Each such entry must be certified with your signature. (For example: “I do not give consent to increase the repair period. The repair period cannot exceed 30 working days. I do not give consent to the use of used, refurbished, non-original or counterfeit spare parts during repairs.”) After this, it is likely that you have the car will be accepted for repair, tends to zero.
The insurer is obliged not only to issue a referral for repairs, but also to agree with you and the service center on the cost and list of repairs . If this has not been done, then it can be done later, but the main thing is that the repair period has already begun to count. If during the repair process any other hidden damage is discovered, these must also be agreed upon with both you and the insurer. How this will be carried out must be specified in the direction for repair or the acceptance certificate for the transfer of the car or in the work order - in any document that will be given to you at the time the car is accepted for repair.
At the station you may be given to sign not only a direction for repairs, but also some kind of agreement or contract . Usually an agreement on the assignment of the right of claim (cession). Under this agreement, you transfer your right to claim insurance compensation from the insurer (and possibly from the person causing harm) to the station and are deprived of the opportunity to demand anything at all, both from the station and from the insurer. Be careful not to sign such agreements at the service station.

Main rules for repairs according to compulsory motor liability insurance

Repair under compulsory motor liability insurance is no different from the usual one and is subject to similar requirements. Repairs must be carried out according to the manufacturer's technology and with spare parts recommended by the manufacturer. It is permissible to use only certified repair technologies; you cannot knock with a hammer, blurt out putties and say that this is what happened.

The Law on Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance and the Insurance Rules specify only the requirements for stations at which repairs can be carried out.

For example:

the repair period should not exceed 30 working days;
the maximum length of the route to the service station on public roads from the scene of the accident or from the victim’s place of residence should not exceed 50 km.

Moreover, it is the victim who chooses where to count these 50 km, from the scene of the accident or from home. An exception is the case when the insurer organized and/or paid for the transportation of the damaged vehicle to the place of repair and back. A vehicle less than 2 years old should be repaired only by OD services. If you are offered a different service, you have the right to refuse and receive payment in cash.