Deadlines for contacting the insurance company after an accident. Deadline for contacting the insurance company after an accident under compulsory motor insurance. Deadline for contacting the insurance company after 2 months.

High traffic congestion and their far from ideal condition, non-compliance with traffic rules, the actions of inexperienced drivers, as well as inattention and adverse weather conditions are the main reasons for a large number of accidents. Anyone can become not only a participant, but also a culprit. Long driving experience and strict adherence to the rules only reduce the risk. But so that unforeseen situations, your own and others’ mistakes do not become the cause of a deep financial crisis, you need to know the deadline for contacting the insurance company after an accident under compulsory motor liability insurance in 2019. This will help you assert your rights and avoid losses.

After an accident, the driver must:

  1. Stop immediately.
  2. Provide first aid to victims, call doctors if their condition is alarming.
  3. If an insurmountable obstacle to traffic is created, the roadway should be cleared. First you need to take photographs, draw up a diagram of their location, which is signed by all participants and witnesses.
  4. If drawing up a European protocol is impossible, call the traffic police.
  5. Know when to contact the insurance company after an accident - failure to comply with deadlines may result in a refusal of payments or a reduction in their size.

If these requirements are met, the injured party will quickly receive compensation, and the other will avoid additional costs.

But sometimes the situation can become significantly more complicated. ? This is not a basis for refusing to pay the victim. But they are produced directly by the culprit. He can give the amount established by agreement of the parties or the court voluntarily. Otherwise, it will be collected from wages and other income, seizure and subsequent sale of the property is possible.

What changes have occurred in the rules

Drivers often miss the deadline for submitting documents to the insurance company after an accident under compulsory motor liability insurance due to problems with the traffic police certificate. But from March 24, 2019, its provision became optional. Back in October 2019, changes were made to the traffic supervision regulations. And the issuance of such certificates was cancelled, therefore clause 3.10 of the Insurance Rules, which provided for their submission, was also cancelled. In clause 5.1 now only the requirement to submit a protocol and notice remains.

Deadline for contacting the insurance company

You have 5 days to notify about payments. Failure to comply with this rule may result in refusal.

But in addition to regulations, contracts often stipulate how long it is necessary to contact the insurance company after an accident. It is often reduced to 1-3 days. But these conditions, even if stated in an agreement signed by both parties, are not binding.

If the deadline is missed

People have different circumstances. What to do if you do not notify the insurance company about an accident within 5 days? You should still submit existing documents. The reason why the deadline for submitting a notification about an accident is missed is important. If it is valid (for example, for health reasons, people are often injured in accidents), then the documents will be accepted and payments will be made in the absence of other reasons for refusal.

Features of contacting an insurance company

To avoid problems, you need to know all the details of the procedure in advance.

Payments under compulsory motor liability insurance are received by the victim. If a person is found to be at fault, he cannot claim compensation. An additional purchase of a CASCO policy allows you to protect yourself.

The procedure for contacting an insurance company after an accident under compulsory motor liability insurance in 2019 requires that a complete package of documents be collected. The vehicle must be submitted for examination within 5 days. Before it is carried out, repair and restoration work must not be carried out or damaged parts removed.

Depends on its consequences. If there are victims, then the application is submitted to the company with which the culprit has an agreement. In their absence - by decision of the parties.

If the culprit's insurance company has its license revoked, payments are made by RSA.

Submission of necessary documents

Immediately after an accident, if your health allows, you should not only relieve stress, but also take care of receiving payments.

It is important to remember the deadline for submitting documents to the insurance company after an accident under compulsory motor liability insurance – 5 days! If it is missed for a good reason, this should be indicated in the application and documents confirming this should be attached.

To justify the amount of desired insurance payments, an independent examination report is submitted. But you shouldn’t do it right away; first, the car is inspected by insurance employees. To do this, the victim must deliver it or justify the impossibility and arrange for the arrival of a representative of the insurer. And only if his assessment of the damage is not satisfactory can an independent examination be carried out.

Application Form

It is necessary to correctly draw up a document for payments under MTPL. The law does not establish its form, but it must contain the following information:

  1. Full name of the insurance company.
  2. Full name of the applicant, his address, contact phone number.
  3. Description of the traffic accident, license plate numbers of the cars involved, information about the owners (drivers). Be sure to indicate the date of the accident and confirm that the deadline for submitting an application to the insurance company after an accident under compulsory motor liability insurance has not been violated.
  4. Damage to vehicles.
  5. Information about the victims.
  6. A protocol drawn up by traffic police officers, or a notice.

Only if the application is completed correctly and all documents confirming the legality and validity of the requirements set out in it are provided, payment will be paid for the restoration of the car.

Is it mandatory to report an accident?

For convenience, registration is allowed according to the European protocol, without calling the traffic police. This is possible if:

  • 2 vehicles involved in an accident;
  • no deaths, no harm to human health;
  • both drivers with MTPL policies;
  • there are no disagreements between them on all significant issues;
  • the amount of damage is less than 50 thousand rubles.

In other cases, you need to call and wait for the traffic police. Is it necessary to report an accident to the insurance company in such a situation? Necessarily!

If the culprit does not want to fill out the notice, the victim does so with the participation of witnesses.

Reasons for refusal to consider an application

The legislation lists situations when the insurer has the right not to accept documents. You need to know them so that due to violation of formalities, which may seem insignificant in a stressful situation, you do not lose compensation.

One of the most common problems is filling out the notice incorrectly. It is issued to each insured person along with the policy and is a strict reporting form. And it is impossible to make this document on a regular sheet of paper, handwritten or printed on a computer.

Also, compensation is not paid if the deadline for submitting it is violated without confirmed valid reasons.

Refusal of compensation

The insurer may fail to fulfill its obligations to compensate for damage in the cases provided for (force majeure circumstances: natural disasters, man-made disasters, military actions, etc.).

Also, refusal of compensation is possible due to the load on the damaged vehicle exceeding the established standards, its participation in races, or its use for driving lessons.

It is illegal to refuse to pay compensation if the at-fault party's insurance company has lost its license, or he fled the scene, refused a medical examination, or refused to sign documents.

Going to court


If the policyholder does not agree with the refusal to pay compensation, he can appeal it. It is advisable to consult with an attorney before doing so. Often his assistance leads to a pre-trial settlement of the dispute. If this fails, a statement of claim is prepared. It must be filed with the court no later than 3 years after receiving the refusal.

List of required documentation

Copies of the following are attached to the statement of claim:

  • policy;
  • owning, using, driving a vehicle;
  • submitted application for payment;
  • protocol and notice.

In the claim, you need to argue your position with references to regulations, so consulting a lawyer will be useful.

On a note

The period for consideration of applications for payments under compulsory motor liability insurance does not exceed 20 days. If after this time there is no response from the insurance company, a penalty of 1% is charged on the amount of compensation for each day of delay. But the 20-day period can be extended if the car was not submitted for inspection on time.

Summing up

Each traffic participant must have a compulsory motor liability insurance policy and clearly know how long after an accident to contact the insurance company. Violation of the 5-day period without a valid reason may become a legal basis for refusal to pay compensation.

It is equally important to fill out the notice correctly and create a package of documents. It is advisable to hand it over to the company in person, against signature, indicating the date.

An accident occurred, and now the most important thing is to avoid mistakes when preparing documentation. How long can I contact the insurance company after an accident? What is the procedure for contacting an insurance company? What steps should be taken to avoid problems with insurance payments? All these questions are very important, because if you make a mistake, you could be left without payment at all.

First actions after an accident

The year 2017 was marked by changes in legislation for motorists, the nuances of which not everyone, even legally savvy drivers, are familiar with. They also touched upon the deadline for submitting documents to apply for compulsory motor liability insurance. Before moving on to the issue of submitting documents to the insurance company, let’s talk about the very first steps after a traffic accident. The sequence of actions in case of an accident is as follows:

  • after contact, stop the car as quickly as possible and turn on the hazard warning lights;
  • do not touch objects directly related to the accident;
  • call the traffic police;
  • exchange contact information with everyone who was directly involved in the situation;
  • notify the insurer of the occurrence of a probable insured event.

The deadline for filing a claim with the insurance company is regulated by law: the circumstances that arose during an accident or led to it do not affect this deadline.

What documents need to be prepared before contacting the insurance company?

  • identification;
  • driving license;
  • compulsory motor liability insurance policy;
  • protocol for registering an administrative offense;
  • notification of the incident, as well as a certificate: depending on the circumstances, it can be regular or extended.


It is recommended not to limit yourself to just this and also stock up on other documentary facts that substantiate your claims against the insurer and confirm that your contact with the insurance company after the accident was timely.

Application deadline

According to the new conditions, the time frame for contacting the insurance company with a request to compensate for the damage received has been reduced: if previously it was possible to submit an application within a maximum period of 15 days after the incident, then after appropriate changes, the package of documents by the driver of the vehicle when drawing up the Europrotocol is submitted to the insurer ten days earlier. There is a logical explanation for this: the increase in insurance claims urgently requires more prompt professional examinations - the actual condition of the car after an accident must be assessed as early as possible!

If the deadline for submitting a message to insurers has been met, their response will be to set a date for the examination. The company has only five days to do this after receiving an official application from the client.

It is important to know: the car can be repaired or disposed of only after fifteen days with the obligatory consent of the insurance company.

What happens if the application deadline is missed?

Legally, this does not entail any serious consequences. Another thing is that you will have to arm yourself with patience and keep in mind that perhaps the issue will be resolved in court.


The applicant can be denied financial compensation only if he is the culprit of the accident, and this fact must be confirmed in an official document of the traffic police, or recorded by mutual agreement of the participants in the accident in the European Protocol.

Unfortunately, in reality, insurers find many reasons for refusal, in particular:

  • incomplete package of submitted documentation;
  • the notorious deadlines for filing have not been met;
  • the details of the circumstances of the incident have not been fully established;
  • there are no death protocols (and this happens, oddly enough, quite often).

In all of these cases, the client has the right to file a lawsuit.

The application was submitted, but the documents were provided later

Perhaps there are objective reasons for being late: forced hospital treatment after an accident, for example, or the incident occurred on a business trip in a foreign city. In such cases, it is recommended to be in close contact with the insurance company and try to justify such a delay by presenting as many documentary facts as possible - a certificate from a medical institution, copies of a travel certificate, transport tickets, documents confirming hotel stays, etc. All this will increase the chances of a positive solution to your issue.

With sufficient argumentation, if the documents were submitted by registered mail, by courier or in person, the insurance company can take into account the received package of documentation, meet halfway and increase the length of the official application to two to three months. Otherwise, the case will be heard in court.

To summarize: if you want to receive an insurance payment without unnecessary red tape and problems, do not forget about the time limit after an accident that you need to contact the insurance company!

Russian authorities are trying to improve legislation and the lives of citizens of their country. This goal was facilitated by changes to the Federal Law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance”, which were made in April 2017. They touched upon various areas of cooperation between insurance companies and their clients. One of them is the deadline for contacting the insurance company after an accident.

Current deadlines for insurance claims

Changes in the law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance” have made adjustments to the timing of contacting the insurance company after an accident. Now they have become smaller. This was done so that specialists began to inspect the car as early as possible and begin assessing the damage and other factors.

Article 11.1, paragraph No. 2 of the law states that the driver is given 5 days as the period for contacting the insurance company after an accident. Previously, 15 days were provided for this.

What should a driver do in the event of an accident on the road?

  1. Stop the car, turn on the hazard lights. All objects that are related to the accident are prohibited from moving or having any impact on them.
  2. Call the traffic police.
  3. Find out the contact information of each participant, write down the license plates of all cars that were involved in the accident, take the phone numbers of their drivers.
  4. When arriving at the scene of an incident, traffic police officers must draw up a report. Be sure to read the document before signing it. If you disagree with something, write about it.
  5. Notify the insurer about the occurrence of an insured event. The legislation clearly defines the deadline for contacting the insurance company after an accident, so you should not delay it. Delays may result in difficulties with reimbursement payments.

After contacting the insurance company, it will organize an examination that will assess the condition of the vehicle. If information about defects does not correspond to reality and this leads to an underestimation of the amount of compensation, you need to contact independent experts.

To schedule an expert vehicle inspection, call Honest. Managers will tell you how to properly notify the insurer about an independent assessment

Nuances about the timing of contacting the insurance company in case of an accident and other cases

  • The deadline for contacting the insurance company begins to count within 5 days from the date of the accident. During this time, the policyholder must submit an application demanding compensation for the damage.
  • Repair or disposal of the vehicle is possible. To do this, the insurance company must give its consent. Actions are completed after 15 days.
  • If a “Europrotocol” was drawn up, then the maximum compensation for damage will be 50 thousand rubles. From 2018 - 100 thousand rubles. This restriction applies to the entire territory of Russia in addition to cities of Federal significance. The latter include Moscow, St. Petersburg, as well as the Moscow and Leningrad regions.

The new law establishes that if additional damage to health and life was discovered after the accident, it must be compensated. However, this does not apply to car repairs.

When drawing up the Europrotocol, evidence from video and photographic recording equipment, as well as information from satellite systems (GPS, GLONASS) should be attached. This will help speed up the payment when contacting the insurance company.

If the at-fault motorist does not have an insurance policy, he will have to compensate the injured party himself.

Insurance compensation procedure

In accordance with the terms of the MTPL policy, two or more cars must be involved in the accident. All drivers must have an insurance contract. Therefore, try to keep your policy always up to date. The insurer compensates for cases where damage was caused to the vehicle and people. The policy does not cover other property.

To receive compensation, you must contact the insurance company within the prescribed period and provide the following documentation:

  1. Application to the Investigative Committee. You can write in free form or download a sample on the official website of your company.
  2. A copy of an identification document: passport, driver’s license, etc.
  3. Insurance policy.
  4. Notice of participation in an accident and a document about the accident. Protocol on administrative violation.
  5. A document confirming ownership of the car.
  6. Certificate of state registration of the car.
  7. Additional costs for parking or tow truck services.
  8. Bank details for transferring insurance compensation.
  9. Notarized power of attorney (if the interests of the victim are protected by his representative).

After submitting this package of documentation, the insurer has five days to assess the damage caused to the car. Within 20 days, the company must make a decision on compensation or refusal. In the first case, a cash payment is made or a referral for repairs is issued, the costs of which will be paid by the insurer. Both actions are possible: the car is repaired, and damage to health or life is compensated with money.

When payment may be refused

Most often, the insurance company makes a negative decision when the driver is to blame for the incident. This may be stated in the “Europrotocol” or the traffic police protocol. In other cases, the refusal grossly violates Russian legislation. Insurers may explain it for the following reasons:

  1. Not receiving all documents from the policyholder.
  2. Violation of the deadline for contacting the insurance company after an accident or providing the car for an expert assessment.
  3. Problems in determining the circumstances of the incident. Usually occur when there is no protocol drawn up in the traffic police. Insurance companies do not receive evidence that it was the actions of another person that caused the damage to the car.

Sometimes insurers explain their refusal by saying that the driver did not provide them with a technical inspection certificate or vehicle technical card. This is not required by law. In such cases, legal action may be taken.

What else has changed in 2017

There were several amendments to the law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance” in 2017. Here are the most significant of them:

  • Inspection of a damaged vehicle. The deadline remains the same - 5 days. But the countdown begins from the moment you submit an application for payment for your auto insurance.
  • Conducting an independent examination. First of all, the insurance company should look at the car, which is why it makes no sense to conduct an independent examination in advance.
  • Electronic version of the policy. Now, instead of the original form, the motorist can present a printed copy to the traffic police officer.
  • Insurance company claim deadlines. In case of missing compensation amount, the claim period is extended to 10 days. If the decision is positive, the victim will receive an increased amount 5 days later.
  • Changes in tariffs for motor insurance. This responsibility is assigned to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation; the procedure can be performed annually or less frequently.

When dealing with an insurance company, it is very important to adhere to deadlines. As we have seen, failure to comply with them can lead not only to a delay in payment, but even to a refusal of it. Know your legal rights and be prepared to fight for them. In this case, unscrupulous insurance companies will not be able to evade their obligations.

If you encounter any problems with payments under CASCO or OSAGO, call Honest. Our experts will tell you what to do.

Important facts from the article

  • When applying for compensation under compulsory motor liability insurance, there are a large number of subtleties that you need to know so that the deadlines do not drag on and you receive sufficient compensation.
  • Whether you receive a cash payment or repairs depends on the circumstances of the accident and other factors, and not on your desire or even on the choice of the insurance company.
  • Properly handing over a car for repairs is a whole science against the backdrop of the latest amendments in 2020.
  • The changes also affected the procedure for filing a claim - now between the claim to the insurer and the court, you need to contact the financial ombudsman.

This article will describe the complete and most correct procedure for applying to an insurance company for payment of MTPL in 2020. We'll tell you how to repair your car or receive payment. How to contact the financial ombudsman and how he considers applications from financial consumers. It seems that all this is already spelled out in the laws, but it is not enough to just read the law, you must be able to ensure its compliance. And this is not counting the fact that it changes almost every month.

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).

What is the deadline for applying for payment?

In the Law on Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance, current for 2020, 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 .

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 is the refund period?

Don’t 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 2020, for individuals whose vehicle is registered in the Russian Federation, priority has been established for compensation in kind (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:

  1. complete loss of the vehicle;
  2. death of the victim;
  3. 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);
  4. 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);
  5. if the cost of restoration repairs exceeds the limits of 400,000 and 100,000 rubles, depending on the method of registering the accident;
  6. 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;
  7. 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);
  8. 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;
  9. existence of a written agreement between the insurer and the victim (beneficiary).

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 agreement indicating the 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 2020, 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.

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, 2017.

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).

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.

  1. When coming to a service station to have your car repaired, you must understand that you can't fit words to action. 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.
  2. 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!
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Show the car and drive it back, without leaving it at the service station, is possible only in one case - if they write to you in the direction or in some document that you presented the car to the service station on such and such a date, that 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.
  6. 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 agree to extend 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 for repairs.".) After this, the likelihood that your car will be accepted for repair tends to zero.
  7. The insurer is obliged not only to issue a referral for repairs, but also Agree with you and the service 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.
  8. At the station you may be given not only a repair direction to sign, but also some other 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.

The main rules for repairs under 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.

If I don't like how the car was repaired?

We have already told you how to take your car in for repairs; we also need to tell you how to pick it up from repair. It would seem that the car was ready, I picked it up and drove off, but that was not the case.

The Law on Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance states that when accepting a repaired vehicle, a delivery acceptance certificate must be signed in 3 copies. And after signing such an act, all obligations of the insurer are considered fulfilled.

About your disagreement with the quality of the repair, about the implementation of all repair actions, etc. must be indicated directly when signing this transfer and acceptance certificate. If you sign this document without any comments, then it will be very difficult to prove later that the repairs were carried out poorly, and it will be very difficult to present this to the insurer. Based on this, there are 2 or even 3 options.

  1. You are an expert and can inspect the car yourself and indicate all the comments and shortcomings of the repairs performed in the report.
  2. You arrive at the car acceptance with an expert with whom you have agreed in advance.
  3. You accept the car yourself, practically without looking, but in the acceptance certificate you indicate all possible comments that the expert to whom you will bring the car can later find. For example: the bumper is not painted according to technology, there is a variety of colors; violation of repair technology; used, refurbished, non-original or counterfeit parts were used during the repair; repairs have not been completed in full. With such an entry in the report, you can go to an expert organization, where an expert will check the quality of the repairs performed, calculate the cost of eliminating deficiencies and issue an expert opinion, with which you will submit claims to the insurer.

Let us remind you that if the period of 30 working days expires and the car is not properly repaired, then the insurer will be charged a penalty of 0.5% per day of the amount of restoration repairs, but not more than the amount of such repairs.

The claim of the victim to the insurer regarding the results of the restoration repair of the damaged vehicle is considered taking into account the features established by Article 16.1 of the Law on Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance - this is one of the latest changes in the legislation of 2020.

We have already written about disputes with the insurer and interaction with the financial ombudsman in a separate article .

If the situation is not resolved by the financial insurance company, then you will have to sue the insurer and demand insurance compensation.

In case of disagreement with the decision of the financial ombudsman that has entered into force, the consumer of financial services has the right, within thirty days after the date of entry into force of the said decision, to go to court and file claims against the financial organization on the subject contained in the appeal, in the manner established by the civil procedural legislation of the Russian Federation . A copy of the application to the court must be sent to the financial ombudsman.

Unfortunately, all these manipulations take a lot of time, and the trial can even last about a year, so you must immediately prepare yourself for the fact that you will not be able to quickly receive insurance compensation from an insurer who does not fulfill its obligations.