Is it possible to recover damages from the culprit without compulsory motor liability insurance?
The insurance company, according to Federal Law No. 40, is obliged to compensate for damage caused to the property and health of the injured party in an accident. But for this, the culprit must have a valid contract for the provision of insurance services in the MTPL system. In its absence, the damage caused will have to be recovered not through the insurer, but by other means.
The legislation provides for several options for compensation for damage in an accident without insurance:
- By mutual agreement of the parties.
- As a result of filing a pre-trial claim.
- Through the judiciary.
Each of these methods has its advantages and disadvantages. The victim may demand compensation:
- Caused harm to health or life.
- Damage to property.
- Compensation for moral damage.
- Other expenses incurred in connection with a car accident. For example, calling a tow truck, the services of independent appraisers, TC, legal costs.
How to recover damages from the culprit of an accident without compulsory motor liability insurance
In accordance with current legislation, the at-fault driver is obliged to compensate for the damage. What can be done if he refuses to pay?
If the person at fault in a traffic accident does not have insurance and refuses to compensate for the damage caused, although he initially agreed to pay (an appropriate receipt or agreement was drawn up), then you can do the following:
- Send a pre-trial claim to the at-fault driver for damages. It must indicate the likely consequences of refusing compensation for damages, for example, this could be a lawsuit.
- If the proposal of the culprit does not suit the victim, then you can seek justice through the court.
As a rule, to justify the amount of the required amount, an independent examination is organized, based on its results the cost of repairs will be determined. The victim is authorized to demand that the guilty party compensate the damage caused in full - pay for restoration work without taking into account wear and tear. Before conducting an expert assessment of losses, it is important to send the at-fault driver a notice of the place and time of the assessment.
If the at-fault driver is not the owner of the vehicle
If the person responsible for the accident does not have compulsory motor liability insurance, and he is not the owner of the vehicle, then the claim for payment of damages is presented to him. This only happens if the driver does not have a driver's license. If you have insurance that does not include the at-fault motorist, the victim can submit an application to the insurer for payment of compensation.
If the OSAGO is fake or expired
If the at-fault driver has an expired license or the contract is fraudulent, then his status is equivalent to the fact that the motorist does not have insurance.
The concepts of “vehicle operation period” and “insurance period” are not the same thing. Federal Law No. 40 allows you to sign a compulsory insurance agreement when using a car seasonally or for several months a year. If a traffic accident occurs during a period that is not covered by the motor vehicle insurance policy, the victim will be able to receive insurance compensation, and the at-fault driver will be subject to a regressive claim from the insurance company to compensate for the damage caused.
If the culprit of the accident fled the scene of the accident and does not have compulsory motor insurance
The motorist remaining at the scene of the accident must call the traffic police inspector and report the incident. Witnesses to a road incident can help in finding and establishing guilt. If the escaped culprit of the accident is found, if he refuses to compensate for the harm caused, the victim has the right to file a lawsuit. During the trial, it will be necessary to prove that the accident occurred due to the actions of the defendant.
If the person at fault for the accident cannot be found, then compensation for the damage caused to the vehicle will not be possible. In case of injury caused to health by an unknown person, compensation may be made to the victim. To get it, you need to contact the RSA.
Registration of an accident without compulsory motor liability insurance
The procedure for drivers to act in the event of a collision is as follows:
- Stop moving.
- Record on camera the damage to the car and the circumstances of the incident. Brake marks, existing road signs, traffic lights, markings, and other significant landmarks.
- If the damage is minor (up to 100 thousand rubles), and when both participants in the collision have car insurance policies, you can file an accident without calling traffic inspectors. For this purpose, Europrotocol forms are used.
- If the person at fault for the accident does not have insurance, then you cannot do without calling a traffic inspector. The arriving inspector will draw up all the necessary documents required in the future to recover damages from the violator.
- The victim reports the accident to his insurer. The company's agent must draw up a document stating that the person responsible for the accident does not have a compulsory motor liability insurance policy.
- After documenting the incident, the victim needs to undergo a technical examination to establish the damage caused and a monetary assessment of repair and restoration work.
- After this, having in hand all the documentation confirming your case, you can begin to demand compensation from the culprit. Until the issue is fully resolved, it is not recommended to repair the damaged car.
What should the victim do if the person at fault for the accident does not have compulsory motor insurance and he caused harm to health?
If a driver who does not have a valid motor vehicle license is at fault in a traffic accident, and citizens were injured in the accident, the injured have the right to compensation. This is established by Article 18 of Federal Law No. 40. The victim must send an appeal to the professional association of insurers and provide them with an application demanding compensation. He should attach documentation, its complete set is established by the rules of the motor vehicle.
The innocent party will be compensated. In the future, by way of recourse, at the request of RSA, the amount will be recovered from the culprit of the accident, who was driving a car without a compulsory motor liability insurance policy. Now the victim has the opportunity to choose: to demand compensation for damage after an accident from the culprit or from the Union of Auto Insurers.
What to do if the culprit does not have compulsory motor insurance?
There are several options for the development of further events.
Solving the issue on the spot
A very common option if the consequences of the collision are minor. By mutual agreement, the participants assess the degree of damage caused to the injured person’s car. The culprit compensates for the damage directly on the spot, or gives a receipt with the obligation to pay for repairs within a certain period. All this is done without calling a traffic police officer, and without documenting a car accident.
This option is much faster and simpler, but it also has its pitfalls:
- On the spot, an inexperienced driver is not always able to determine by eye the full severity of the damage. During operation, hidden damage may be revealed that requires significant financial investments to eliminate.
- Having issued a receipt, the culprit may subsequently try to refuse it. To recover the amount of damage caused, the victim will have to go to court. It will be very difficult to prove that you are right in the absence of official documentation recording the circumstances of the accident.
- It is not recommended to agree to the offer of the person responsible for the accident to repair your car at your own expense. As a rule, such repairs are carried out by some acquaintances, on the cheap, often using a makeshift method. As a result, the victim risks receiving his car with installed used or non-original parts, centimeter layers of putty, and uneven paint.
Pre-trial proceedings
A more reliable way to solve the problem when the person at fault for the accident does not have compulsory motor liability insurance is to file a pre-trial claim. It is drawn up by the injured party in the prescribed manner.
The document must display the following information:
- Details of the culprit of the accident to whom the claim is being submitted.
- Description of the circumstances of the accident, indicating the place, time and identification information about the vehicles involved in the accident (make, license plate).
- Number and series of the injured person's auto insurance policy.
- Listing of damage received.
- The amount of the monetary claim for repairs issued to the violator.
- The principle of establishing the claim amount (for example, the conclusion of an expert appraiser).
- Listing of additional costs that require payment - tow truck services, appraisers, moral damages for inconvenience caused, and so on.
- Indicate the legislative norms that give the victim the right to claim compensation for the damage received.
- Contact details of the injured party, bank account number for transfer of compensation payments.
- The time frame allotted for resolving the issue without involving the courts.
The claim is sent to the person at fault for the accident by registered mail with acknowledgment of delivery. If the owner of the damaged vehicle has a CASCO or DOSAGO policy, the claim is also submitted to its insurer.
Filing a lawsuit against the culprit
Resolving the issue of compensation for damage caused in an accident cannot always be resolved peacefully. When the culprit for some reason refuses to pay compensation, the victim has only one option - to go to court. Here is the correct way to determine the jurisdiction of your case:
- The magistrate deals with issues when the amount of the claim is no more than 50 thousand rubles.
- If the amount of the claim is more than 50 thousand, then the application is sent to the district/city court.
The statute of limitations for such claims is 3 years . After this time, no claims from the injured party will be accepted.
Documentation
The victim must attach to the statement of claim a certain set of documentation proving the legitimacy of his claims. This:
- Certificate of a car accident. Issued at the traffic police department.
- A copy of the report drawn up by the traffic police inspector at the scene of the accident.
- Notification of an incident drawn up on a special form.
- Resolution of the State Traffic Inspectorate on the existence of an administrative violation - non-compliance with traffic rules.
- A copy of the invitation of the perpetrator to the examination procedure to determine the amount of damage.
- Expert report on the nature of the damage and the cost of repairs.
- Witness testimony, video recordings, photographs and other evidence.
All of the listed papers are attached to the claim, and the application itself contains a list of related documents.
Drawing up a statement of claim
A judicial statement of claim, when the culprit does not have compulsory motor liability insurance, is written by analogy with a pre-trial claim. It should be mentioned in the text of the claim that attempts to resolve the issue pre-trial were unsuccessful. As an additional requirement, you can specify the recovery of legal costs from the defendant. The amount of state duty paid depends on the size of the claim.
Sample lawsuit for compensation for damage caused in an accident:
statement of claim
Trial
After receiving the claim, the judge must familiarize himself with the essence of the case within two months and schedule a hearing. In fact, given the workload of the judicial system with various cases, the trial period can last up to six months. It is also possible that the process may be artificially delayed by the defendant. Litigation in the Russian Federation is adversarial in nature. During the meeting, the arguments of both sides and the evidence base provided by them are considered.
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Maria Mirnaya
Insurance expert
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Based on the results of the trial, the judge renders his verdict - to satisfy the claim of the injured motorist or to reject it. Depending on the financial capabilities of the traffic violation violator, the court may grant him an installment plan to pay for the damage, from several months to several years. In fact, court decisions are not always executed by defendants, and it is necessary to turn to the bailiff service for compensation.
What to do if the culprit has a fake MTPL?
A fake insurance policy from the person at fault is not a reason to panic. In some cases, even under fake compulsory motor liability insurance, the insurance company makes payments.
Receiving compensation from the insurance company for fake compulsory motor liability insurance
The victim has the right to contact the insurance company indicated in the fake OSAGO. Only if the policy is issued on an official form. The fact is that, according to the resolution of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 2 of January 29, 2015, policies printed on the official letterhead of insurance companies automatically become valid, and it is possible to make compensation for them.
Note! If the insurance organization has declared the form lost, then it will be possible to receive compensation for it.
It is possible to obtain complete information about the relevance of the counterfeit form by entering its data into the form on the RSA website. If, as a result of the search, the system produces information about the policy, then the victim has the right to appeal to the insurance company or to court if he receives a refusal.
Compensation for damage if the policy is not owned by the insurance company
If the OSAGO is indeed fake and issued on an unofficial form, then it is necessary to demand compensation for the damage caused directly from the culprit of the accident.
Are there often culprits in road accidents without compulsory motor liability insurance?
As practice shows, meeting a driver without insurance is quite possible. The main reasons why drivers deliberately refuse insurance are:
- High cost of the policy. Not every vehicle owner can afford to pay such a sum at a time.
- The policy is fake. This option can save you during a traffic police check, so car owners are easily deceived.
- The policy is expired. The owner is obliged to monitor the validity of the insurance, but such situations do occur.
Separately, it is necessary to highlight situations where the traffic violator is not to blame for the lack of insurance:
- failure when registering e-OSAGO;
- deceiving the buyer when registering e-MTPL;
- the insurance company is declared bankrupt;
- The insurance company's license has been revoked.
Registration of an accident in the absence of compulsory motor liability insurance
Traffic laws require that a traffic accident be reported regardless of whether those involved in the accident have insurance policies.
However, in this case, it should be taken into account that if at least one of the drivers does not have compulsory motor insurance, then the accident cannot be registered independently. That is, participants in any case will have to contact the traffic police to complete documents.
At the same time, a driver who does not have a policy will be fined for lack of compulsory motor liability insurance - 800 rubles.
Fine for lack of MTPL insurance
In addition, he will be fined for the violation that caused the traffic accident.
Let's consider several options that allow you to receive compensation from the culprit of the accident.
