Rules for filing a claim: sample application

Proceedings for the collection of monetary compensation are initiated by the injured party in civil proceedings. The victim is required to prepare a statement of claim for material damage and then submit it to the court.

However, you should first try to resolve the issue peacefully by contacting the potential defendant with a pre-trial claim. If the culprit reacts positively, the terms of compensation for harm are discussed and recorded in a notarial agreement. But in reality, such cases are rare. Therefore, it is important to understand how to correctly write an application for payment of material damage.

You should rely on the provisions of Art. 131 Code of Civil Procedure. The paragraph contains standard rules for preparing such petitions. Failure to comply with fixed standards may result in refusal to consider the request.

A general sample statement of claim for material damage includes the following items:

• name of the judicial authority;
• information about the parties to the conflict - full name, place of residence;
• the essence of the violation - a description of the defendant’s actions, the date and place of events, characteristics of the destroyed property;
• the requirements of the injured party and the price of the claim in the form of a specific amount;
• grounds for making claims - references to specific articles of the law;
• information about an attempt to pre-trial resolve the conflict with the defendant;
• list of attachments – documents and evidence included in the claim;
• date of;
• compiler's signature.

The document is prepared in at least 3 copies: for the plaintiff, for the judge and for the defendant. The text of the statement should be concise and without unnecessary emotions.

Depending on the circumstances of the situation, the content of the petition may vary. Thus, a sample statement of material damage resulting from an accident must contain details of the incident, down to the make of the car and the address characteristics of the accident site.

Attention! Claims must be brought against the perpetrator within 3 years from the moment the victim learned of the harm caused to him. Failure to comply with the statute of limitations may result in the judicial authority refusing to consider the request.

Expert opinion

Elena Bondarenko

Higher legal education Specialization: real estate, labor and family law

About the expert

The general limitation period for applying for compensation for material losses is 3 years. However, in case of recovery of compensation for property damage caused by an employee to an employer, the period is reduced to 1 year. The basis can be considered Art. 392 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

Package of necessary documents

The statement of claim for damages must be accompanied by documents confirming the guilt of the defendant and the legality of the plaintiff’s claims. Depending on the situation, the documentation package for the court may differ, but in general the list of applications is as follows:

• Copies of the statement of claim. Their number depends on the number of participants in the trial;
• A check confirming payment of the state duty;
• A document that presents the calculation procedure and the amount of damages to be recovered;
• Title documents for the property in respect of which compensation for damage is being made;
• If an independent examination was carried out, an expert opinion is attached to the statement of claim;
• If the plaintiff has made attempts to resolve the dispute out of court, this fact should be confirmed.

In certain cases, the statement of claim for damages will need to be accompanied by:

• Written testimony of witnesses;
• Lease agreement for residential and non-residential premises;
• Receipts, checks, bank statements indicating the expenses of the injured person to restore the object after causing damage to it.

This is important to know: How much is the state fee when filing a private complaint?

Features of preparing a claim for compensation for moral and material damage

If necessary, the injured party has the right to draw up a single statement of claim for compensation for both material and moral damage. In this case, the essence of the violation is indicated only once in the document. This approach is often practiced when collecting compensation for damage caused during a crime or in an accident.

Thus, a sample application for payment of moral and material damage from a criminal act contains the following points:

• name of the court;
• information about the participants in the proceedings;
• the essence of the precedent with a description of the crime, the harm caused and the moral suffering that follows;
• links to legislative acts;
• demand for compensation for property and moral damage, indicating specific amounts;
• list of attached documents;
• date of;
• signature.

The petition is certified by the date of its preparation, as well as by the personal signature of the plaintiff.

Main aspects

Often, a controversial situation, or other rash actions of the defendant against the plaintiff in pre-trial proceedings, lead to civil procedural proceedings, which implies the regulation of the conflict in the manner prescribed by law.

In this case, one of the parties that infringed the rights of a citizen or caused him any damage undertakes to compensate for all losses incurred. Attempts to resolve such attempts to resolve the situation peacefully, as a rule, do not bear any fruit.

That is why the legislation of the Russian Federation and the competent authorities, which monitor the implementation of the legal norms in force on the territory of the Russian Federation, stand up to protect the interests of citizens.

Initial Concepts

Before you become more familiar with the rules for filing a claim for compulsory recovery of damages, you should familiarize yourself with a number of concepts that are closely related to this point:

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Taking into account these concepts, it is possible to study in more detail the procedure and rules for drawing up a statement of claim for compensation for damage caused by the defendant to the plaintiff.

Main reasons for contacting

In order to go to court for damages, certain grounds must be present, namely:

• causing physical harm;
• damage to the plaintiff's property;
• receiving insults from the defendant;
• calling for liability for libel;
• damage to the property or health of the plaintiff’s relatives;
• unlawful actions in relation to the interests of the plaintiff;
• various offenses where the plaintiff suffered.

All these points are the reason for the immediate settlement of the controversial situation in court and the defendant’s call for compensation for moral as well as material damage that was caused due to his fault.

Legal regulation

The settlement of the issue regarding the defendant’s call for mandatory compensation for damage caused is based on the following regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation:

• Federal Law No. 143 of November 15, 1997 “On acts of civil status”;
• legal acts regulating the activities of courts in Russia;
• Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated December 11, 2012 No. 29 “On the application of civil procedural legislation by courts”;
• Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation part No. 2.

All these laws are designed to regulate the legal relations of citizens on the territory of Russia, and also, if necessary, to call the defendant to responsibility and mandatory compensation for moral and material damage caused to them intentionally or unintentionally.

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Rules for going to court

In addition to preparing a written application to the court for compensation for material damage, the victim will need to create a package of documentation.

The list includes:

• passport;
• documents certifying the fact of ownership of damaged or destroyed property;
• written refusal of the defendant to pay compensation in the manner of pre-trial resolution of the conflict (if any);
• expert opinion of the appraiser;
• scheme for calculating the requested compensation;
• eyewitness testimony, video materials, photographs;
• payment document confirming payment of the state fee - the amount depends on the type of damage and on the basis of Art. 333.19 Tax Code can range from 300 rubles (compensation for moral damage) to 60 thousand rubles (property claim).

Attention! The claim is sent to the place of residence of the culprit. The request is submitted to justices of the peace if its price does not exceed 50 thousand rubles. In other cases, you should contact the district judicial authority.

You can submit an application for compensation for material and moral damage in person, by mail or through an intermediary. In the latter case, you will need a power of attorney to grant the representative the relevant powers.

A claim for the recovery of funds compensating for material damage is prepared by the injured party, taking into account the rules of Art. 131 Code of Civil Procedure. The request is accompanied by a package of documents, including evidence of harm and an estimate of the costs incurred. Filing a claim is allowed within 3 years from the date of violation of the right. In particular, the countdown of the period begins from the day when the injured citizen learned about the fact of damage to his property or his person.

How to apply and where

According to the law, the procedure for collecting damages should begin not with filing a statement of claim, but with resolving the controversial situation in a peaceful manner. To do this, you should use the option of sending a claim to the person responsible for the incident. The text of the claim must indicate the applicant’s desire to recover damages in monetary terms, the amount of payments, and also provide evidence of the described arguments. In addition to the information provided, it is recommended to describe the citizen’s further actions if his demands are not met.

A written appeal is sent to the person responsible for the incident for consideration in person or through the use of postal services. If the recipient of the claim refuses to compensate for the damage suffered by the action or inaction of the person, the citizen has the opportunity to send a statement of claim to recover damages to the court.

Consideration and decision-making on claims of this category falls within the competence of arbitration courts. To initiate legal proceedings for the recovery of damages, a claim is filed with the judicial authority at the place of residence or registration of the defendant. Submission of documentation to the court is accompanied by the payment of a state fee, the amount of which is calculated based on the amount of compensation.

During the consideration of the case, the plaintiff will have to prove the following facts:

• Damage to his property;
• The defendant’s guilt in the situation that happened;
• Confirm that the amount of damages to be recovered corresponds to the amount specified in the text of the statement of claim;
• If an agreement was signed between the parties, it is required to prove the fact of violation of its terms on the part of the defendant (agreement for the provision of services, lease).

To confirm the legality of their claims to recover damages from the potential culprit of the incident, the plaintiff often has to resort to the help of independent experts. The costs of attracting specialists are compensated at the expense of the plaintiff. If, as a result of the trial, the person’s demands set out in the statement of claim are satisfied by the judge, the defendant undertakes to pay not only the losses incurred by the person, but also to compensate for the costs of the examination.

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The defendant’s actions in the case will be aimed at presenting evidence confirming his innocence of causing damage to the plaintiff’s property. Therefore, in order to increase the chances of a positive outcome in the case of recovery of damages, the victim should become familiar with the specifics of filing a claim and the nuances of the procedure.

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