The law on repairs instead of payments under compulsory motor liability insurance was adopted on March 17, 2017. Now, instead of payments under compulsory motor liability insurance, car repairs will be carried out in the direction of the insurance company. We will consider all the pros and cons, as well as the nuances and controversial situations of this law in 2019 in this article.
But first, a little background information. The law on repairs instead of insurance payment was initially (in the first reading) put forward by State Duma deputies as an alternative for the policyholder (the policyholder is the owner of the car). That is, at the choice of the policyholder, either repairs had to be carried out, or an insurance payment had to be made. However, already in the second reading the law acquired a different character, depriving the majority of auto lawyers of a huge piece of the pie - priority will be given to repairs rather than payments. Only by decision of the insurance company (insurer) itself, in-kind compensation for damage - repairs - can be replaced with payment.
The subject of the new law on repairs instead of payment of compulsory motor liability insurance
The essence of the innovation is that now, with the exception of exceptions, the insurance company issues a referral for repairs to the injured party instead of paying money. The innovation is valid only for new policies concluded after the innovation comes into force (when this will be is still unknown, but in the next month). Also, the changes apply only to individuals and cars - organizations, as well as trucks, buses and motorcycles will still receive cash payments.
When concluding a compulsory motor liability insurance policy in 2019, the owner of the car, already in the policy, will choose a service center from the list of available ones, with which the insurance company has a contract for repairs that suits him most, and when contacting the insurance company (in case of direct compensation for losses), it will refer him for repairs.
In what cases is repair in lieu of payment not covered?
There are also exceptions in which the insurance company will still be obliged to make a payment rather than send it to a car repair shop for repairs. Such exceptions include:
- as a result of the accident, serious harm was caused to the driver’s health or his death occurred;
- as a result of an accident, the car cannot be restored (total loss);
- as a result of the accident, the damage exceeded 400 thousand rubles;
- the victim of an accident is a disabled person of the first or second group.
In addition, payment in cash can be made if the insurer, for one reason or another, cannot organize repairs at the car service center chosen by the car owner.
There is also an important point: if the nearest car service center is located more than 50 km from the place of residence of the car owner or the scene of an accident (at the owner’s choice), then instead of repairs, payment in money takes place. However, if the insurance company can arrange transportation of the car being repaired to the car service center and back, then the distance condition ceases to apply.
In addition, in agreement with the insurance company, the car owner can choose a car service for repairs not from the list of possible ones from the insurance company. But you need to understand that the likelihood of such an outcome is extremely low. To do this, in the application for direct compensation of losses, you must indicate the full name of the service center, its address and payment details. If suddenly the insurance company agrees with the victim’s choice, it will issue him a referral for repairs at the car service center chosen by the victim and will pay for this repair. That is, if you choose any expensive dealer service center, you need to understand that the payment will still be calculated using a single method and, most likely, will be lower than the actual one.
Repair conditions under compulsory motor liability insurance according to the law
According to new changes to the law on compulsory motor liability insurance, only new parts and spare parts can be installed on a car as part of repairs. The warranty for repairs will be 12 months for work where paint and varnish materials were used, and 6 months for other parts.
If the car is less than 2 years old, then restoration repairs according to the new law must be carried out only in service centers of official dealers of the car manufacturers.
At the same time, there is a significant point regarding the inconsistency of the cost of repairs between the insurance company and the car service center. It is not yet entirely clear how this can happen, but if such a disagreement arises, the owner of the car will be required (no joke!) to pay extra for repairs. It will also be possible to pay extra for repairs if the accident was registered according to the European protocol, and the amount of repairs exceeded the maximum in such cases (50 thousand rubles). That is, in fact, the insurance company, after assessing the cost of repairs, sends the owner to a car service center, and it transfers money to this service for repairs according to its calculations. But if the repair actually costs more than the insurance company calculated, then the money must be paid from the owner’s pocket.
The maximum repair period cannot exceed 30 days (20 days remain for payments). This also includes the period of transportation of the car by the insurance company, if any. If the period is longer, then the insurance company is obliged to pay the car owner a penalty in the amount of 0.5% of the repair amount for each day of delay.
But if the insurance company violates the repair conditions 2 or more times a year, then it will face strict sanctions - a ban on sending money for repairs and only making payments in cash.
The insurance company, according to the new law on repairs under compulsory motor liability insurance, is obliged to publicly post on its official website a list of services with which it has entered into an agreement, for the convenience of choice by the driver, and to keep this list up to date.
The rules of compulsory car insurance change regularly. And in 2019, many amendments were made to laws relating to insurance.
According to the new rules with the latest changes to the current edition, the following have been adjusted:
- settlements according to the European protocol;
- direct settlements and procedures for resolving disputes with the insurance company;
- areas of responsibility;
- service selection;
- method of purchasing a policy.
Most of the changes to the current version of the MTPL rules in 2019 made insurance more profitable for a careful driver. The only exception was the choice of service.
Latest changes in settlements under the European Protocol
In 2015, the maximum insurance payments when contacting the company were already increased. Thus, up to 400,000 rubles were given for damage to a car, and up to 500,000 rubles for damage to health and life.
It has also made it additionally easier to obtain compensation for health damage. The insured person only needs to provide notification from the doctor. This will speed up the payment process.
Changes to the current MTPL rules in 2019 also affected the European protocol. This document allows you to quickly resolve a controversial situation without involving traffic police officers. Now it will be possible to receive compensation of up to 50,000 rubles.
New rules for settlements and dispute resolution procedures
According to the rules of MTPL insurance in 2019, a motorist can immediately contact his insurance company to receive payments. Now you don’t have to waste time and effort visiting the company that issued the policy to the person at fault for the accident.
Also, a system of interaction between the insured person and the insurer has now been established. Previously, disputes were resolved directly between car owners and the company. This led to frequent underestimation of the amount of payments.
According to the new rules, if the injured party does not agree with the results of the examination from the insurance company, it is necessary to go to court. During the proceedings, the due compensation will be awarded.
Rules for determining areas of responsibility
The new rules of the year close a loophole where previously the culprit of an accident could escape liability if the accident occurred on the territory of a private home or inside a courtyard.
The new rules more precisely formulate areas of responsibility. Now there is a definition relating to yards, parking spaces and tow truck operations. Accidents that occur there will also be taken into account and covered by insurance.
Restriction of service selection in the current edition
The new rules significantly limit the ability of drivers to get repairs at a service that suits them. Now insurance companies will indicate the place of repair.
The main disadvantage of the innovation is the inability of the vehicle owner to choose his favorite service. But now the insurance company will be held responsible for poor quality repairs, so you can demand an appropriate level of service from them.
A new way of concluding contracts
Now you can get a compulsory motor liability insurance contract without leaving your home. To do this, just go to the insurance company’s website and go to your personal account. The function is available to all drivers who have at least once taken out a regular policy in the office.
The updated rules for concluding an insurance contract make it possible to avoid the imposition of services by unscrupulous insurers. All calculations of coefficients and the cost of the insurance premium occur automatically. Payment can also be made online.
In the rules of compulsory car insurance, termination of the contract remains the same. You also have the right to refuse further cooperation with the company and, in some cases, receive up to 77% of the insurance premium back.
In 2018, new amendments to the terms and conditions of car insurance come into force. Some of them begin to operate in January, others - throughout the year. For example, the cost of compulsory motor liability insurance changes depending on the driver’s length of service, new means of protection against fraudsters are introduced, the “cooling period” and the amount of payments under the Euro Protocol are increased, and taxi drivers who hide their place of work will no longer be paid compensation for road accidents.
On January 1, 2018, a new form of MTPL policy was introduced: it was supplemented with a QR code. According to the Russian Union of Auto Insurers (RUA), this will help distinguish legal policies from counterfeits. In addition, it will be possible to easily determine whether the accident participant’s policy is valid, even without the participation of the traffic police.
In addition, using the QR code, you can go to the PCA website and find out all the information about the policy (insurance company, number and date of issue of the document, its validity period, as well as the names of the policyholder and owner, make and model of the car and other data). At the same time, the previously valid policy form can be used by insurers until July 1, 2018.
The “cooling off period” is the time during which you can “painlessly” cancel your insurance and get your money back. From January 1, 2018, this period increased from 5 to 14 days. This is done for the convenience of citizens: if, along with your auto insurance, they also imposed life or apartment insurance on you, then you have two weeks to come to your senses and refuse it.
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation allowed insurers not to pay money to taxi drivers for car repairs. However, we are talking only about those drivers who, when concluding the contract, did not indicate that they were using the car for commercial purposes.
OSAGO for taxi drivers is much more expensive than for other car owners, and tariffs for them are calculated according to different schemes. This is due to the fact that taxi drivers move around the city much more than other drivers, and therefore their risk of getting into an accident is much higher. That is why, if it is proven that at the time of the accident you were using your car as a taxi, you will have to pay for repairs out of your own pocket or demand compensation directly from the person responsible for the accident.
From June 1, 2018, the amount of maximum compensation when registering an accident under the European Protocol will be doubled: from 50 to 100 thousand rubles. Let us remind you that in order to receive a payment several conditions must be met:
there were no injuries in the accident;
only two cars were damaged;
both participants have a valid MTPL policy;
the culprit of the accident has been identified, and this fact is accepted by both parties. If there are disagreements, it will not be possible to do without the traffic police.
Changes in the cost of the insurance policy began to take effect at the beginning of 2018. Its price depends on the driver’s age and experience:
for drivers 22 - 24 years old with a driving experience of 5 - 6 years, the policy has increased in price by 55%;
for drivers 25 - 29 years old with a driving experience of 5 - 6 years, the price of the policy has increased by 31%;
for drivers 25 - 29 years old with a driving experience of 7 - 9 years, the price of the policy has increased by 22%;
For drivers over 49 years old with 14 years of driving experience or more, a 34% discount applies.
In addition, the cost of insurance now strongly depends on the number of fines: the more violations a driver has, the higher his coefficient and, accordingly, the price of the policy.
In January 2018, a bill was submitted to the State Duma, according to which the fine for driving without a compulsory motor liability insurance policy would be increased by more than 6 times: from 800 to 5,000 rubles.
Also now, driving a car with an invalid policy will result in a fine of 500 rubles. The same amount is provided for driving by a driver who is not included in the MTPL. For all these cases, it is proposed to establish a single fine of 5,000 rubles.
However, it is too early to say whether this bill will be adopted. In addition, Russian legislation allows amendments to the terms and conditions of insurance to be made no more than once a calendar year.
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