Traffic accidents are unpleasant events for every car owner. They can cause significant damage to cars or harm citizens themselves. If car owners follow the requirements of the law, and therefore purchase a compulsory insurance policy called CTP, then it is the insurance company that indemnifies the injured party in an accident. But there are certain situations when it is necessary to recover damage from the culprit of an accident, for example, if he does not have a policy or the amount of recovery is so large that it is not covered by insurance payments.
Who indemnifies for an accident?
Compulsory liability insurance for each owner of the car is intended so that in an accident the injured party could easily receive compensation from the insurance company. Therefore, after the accident, you must contact this organization directly.
But firms pay compensation only if certain conditions are met, which include the fact that the accident should be included in insured events, so if the car owner in an accident is intoxicated, the company will refuse to compensate. In this case, he will have to compensate for the damage at the expense of personal funds.
OSAGO reimburses not only the damage caused to property, but also to the health of citizens, but only in the amount of the established limit. If the compensation exceeds this value, then the damage is recovered from the culprit of the accident.
When is compensation paid by insurance companies?
The insurance company may recover damages only if the conditions are met:
- the accident has all the signs of an insured event specified in the CTP insurance contract;
- the culprit of the accident has a valid insurance policy.
In other situations, it is the driver himself who must cover the damage at the expense of personal funds.
When does the driver cover the damage?
Damage recovery from the culprit of the accident and the car owner occurs in situations:
- the car owner does not have a valid OSAGO policy, so he cannot use it to contact the insurance company;
- collision of cars does not fit the insured event;
- the person who was not insured was driving the car;
- the driver took advantage of someone else's car in illegal ways;
- the owner of the car covers the damage if his employee, through his own fault, has an accident.
Insurance companies pay maximum compensation in the amount of 400 thousand rubles. for damage caused to cars or other property. Payments for the harm done to the health of citizens are as much as 500 thousand rubles. These limits are set at the federal level, and not by the companies themselves. If the above amount is not enough to cover the damage, then the insurance company will recover the damage from the culprit of the accident.
The nuances of recovering property damage
Most often, in an accident, damage is caused to cars or other property of citizens, therefore, pecuniary damage is required. If the culprit does not have a valid OSAGO insurance policy, then he will have to independently pay compensation to another participant in the accident. Recovery of damage from the culprit of an accident can be carried out in two ways:
- peaceful resolution of the issue, for which the culprit of the accident agrees to pay the other party compensation in the optimal amount, and often for its calculation, the participants of the accident turn to auto repair shops to assess the damage caused;
- if the car owner does not want to cover the damage, the injured party may apply to the court for the forced collection of funds.
If a court order is used, this will lead to an increase in the amount that will eventually have to be transferred to the culprit. This is due to the fact that court costs and payment for the services of an appraiser are added.
Recovery of lost profits
Often accident participants who have suffered as a result of an accident wish to receive compensation for the loss of profits that a motorist could get if he had not had an accident. The court shall award damages from the culprit of the accident without compulsory motor third-party liability insurance for loss of profit if the second participant is a taxi driver or his work is directly related to driving a car.
But for this, the plaintiff must submit to the court relevant evidence confirming:
- violation of the rights of the car owner as a result of an accident;
- damage to the car in a specific monetary equivalent;
- the presence of a causal relationship between traffic accidents and losses incurred by a citizen.
Usually such cases are lengthy, since the court does not always take the side of the plaintiff. But if the claim is satisfied, then the culprit of the accident under Art. 1082 Civil Code will have to pay the other party to the accident not received profit.
Payout excluding depreciation
The missing amount for damage may be reimbursed by legal entities or individuals if payments from the insurance company are insufficient for these purposes. In this case, the recovery of damage from the culprit of an accident with or without depreciation. The procedure is governed by the provisions of Art. 18 and Art. 19 Federal Law "On CTP".
The compensation payment includes the cost of purchasing parts that are replaced during car repair. Therefore, insurers take into account the wear of the car that was involved in the accident. This requires the involvement of an expert. If the amount assigned by the insurance company is not enough to cover the damage, you will have to collect money from the owner of another car. Although all parts are completely replaced, the cost of the machine is reduced due to wear and tear and incident participation. Therefore, car owners who are the injured party can decide whether to recover damages from the culprit of the accident, taking into account depreciation or excluding depreciation.
Compensation may be reduced if not new parts are used for repair, but used items.
Who reimburses burial expenses?
Often, various incidents result in the death of participants, and in Russia statistics are considered deplorable, since even several people often die in one accident. Based on Art. 1064 CC, harm caused to citizens must be compensated by the culprit of the incident.
Guilt must be proved, therefore, if the court establishes the guilt of a citizen for the death of citizens, then he should be responsible for the act. To do this, he is prosecuted, as well as under Art. 1094 Civil Code is recovering damage from the culprit of the accident, so he is obliged to pay for the burial of dead citizens, and their relatives are paid significant compensation.
Compensation for non-pecuniary damage
The Civil Code contains information on the possibility of recovering even moral damage from the perpetrator of the accident. To do this, certain conditions must be met:
- The culprit of the accident
- the incident is executed with the participation of traffic police, so the victim receives a certificate of accident ;
- medical assistance is called by a citizen;
- witness testimonies and contact details of eyewitnesses are taken;
- if a person needs treatment, then he must save all payment documents confirming payment for the services of medical institutions;
- when drawing up a claim to the court, it is indicated exactly what non-pecuniary damage was received by the citizen, on the basis of which a claim is made for its compensation.
Recovery of moral damage from the culprit of the accident is carried out only through the court. The judge considers all the evidence and requirements of the plaintiff, after which he makes an objective decision. The victim really has every right to demand reimbursement of treatment costs, even for psychological assistance.
The amount of compensation in this case is determined by the court, and often the amount is significantly reduced by them, since citizens require a really large amount that does not correspond to the expenses incurred.
How is damage assessed?
To recover pecuniary damage from the culprit of an accident, it is necessary to determine what expenses another participant in the accident had to incur to restore his car. The procedure is carried out in the presence of the direct car owner, the culprit of the accident and a representative of the insurance company. To do this, they tentatively agree on the place and time of the process.
To conduct an assessment that allows you to determine the damage done, the car owner must prepare certain documents:
- passport;
- Title
- vehicle registration certificate;
- if the warranty period has not yet expired, then a service book is additionally prepared, in which there are marks on the passage of maintenance;
- a certificate of an accident received from the traffic police officer, which lists all the damage to the car.
For assessment, a unified methodology is used, on the basis of which the cost of car repair is determined, after which the amount of damage is collected from the culprit of the accident. The evaluation procedure is carried out only by an expert technician who has the necessary license. Based on the completed process, a special inspection report is formed. With its help, not only the costs of restoring the car are determined, but also the loss of the commodity value of the car. The act is signed by the expert, the culprit and the victim in the accident.
Often, the perpetrators of the accident do not come for an inspection, and in this case, the necessary mark is put in the act. This document is accompanied by photographs of the car.
Peaceful solution to the problem
Recovery of damages from the culprit of an accident without compulsory motor third-party liability insurance does not always take place through a court, as car owners often agree with their guilt and wish to peacefully resolve the differences. The culprit may voluntarily transfer funds to the affected party, but some conditions must be taken into account:
- the transfer of money should be recorded using a written receipt;
- Before transferring funds, it is important to make sure that the victim will not be able to receive compensation from the insurance company;
- an independent examination is carried out to accurately determine how much money the car owner will have to spend to repair the car.
If the culprit is an employee of the company, then the owner can recover the damage from the culprit of the accident, for which the optimal amount of money is deducted monthly from the salary.
Court resolution
Citizens rarely agree to voluntarily transfer compensation to another participant in an accident. In this case, the victim can go to court, for which he performs sequential actions:
- Initially, a written complaint is drawn up, which is sent to the culprit of the accident, since on the basis of such a document he can pay compensation, moreover, the document indicates information about accident and any damage to the car, as well as the full amount of losses incurred;
- it is advisable to send the document by registered mail with a receipt of receipt;
- if within a month there is no reaction from the culprit, then a lawsuit is filed to recover damages from the culprit of the accident;
- the document indicates the date of the accident, the amount of claims, calculations with justifications and information about each participant in the incident;
- the application is submitted to the court at the place of residence of the defendant.
To make a statement of claim, you can contact an experienced car dealer. Additional documentation is attached to the claim, which includes the valuation report, a certificate from the traffic police and the correct calculation of the losses suffered by the injured party. If there are no problems with the documents, a trial begins, on the basis of which the plaintiff is required to recover damage from the culprit of the accident without taking into account wear and tear. Judicial practice on such issues usually indicates that a positive decision is made on the claims, so the perpetrator must cover the losses of the second participant in the accident at the expense of his personal funds.
The defendant does not agree with the requirements
Often the defendant in the trial does not consider himself guilty, therefore refuses to compensate for the losses. In this case, they may file an objection to the lawsuit, which lists the reasons for such a decision. Usually they are associated with the following nuances:
- the plaintiff does not have evidence of guilt of another participant in the accident;
- claims made violate the law or are unfounded;
- the plaintiff is himself responsible for the accident, for which evidence must be available;
- Earlier, the defendant handed over to the plaintiff the amount due in a peaceful settlement of the issue.
Additionally, the court takes into account the material and marital status of the defendant. If he can prove that he has a small income, minor children or other financial difficulties, then the amount of compensation can be significantly reduced by the court.
How is enforcement enforced?
In judicial practice, it is considered rare that the claims of victims of an accident were not satisfied, so usually the perpetrators have to pay funds to another participant in the accident. If this process is not voluntarily performed, then enforcement proceedings are instituted by the bailiffs. Specialists can recover funds from the perpetrators of the accident in various ways:
- seizure of bank accounts, after which the necessary amount of funds is withdrawn from them for repayment, and if there is no money, periodically 50% of the salary will be charged;
- seizure and sale of property, for which bidding is used;
- a ban on leaving the country.
Bailiffs will regularly come home to the debtor, requiring him to transfer funds to the injured party. Therefore, if a person works officially or has various expensive property, then it is advisable for him to responsibly approach his obligations.
If the culprit died
Often during the accident, the immediate culprit of the accident dies. Compensation in this case may be charged to the insurance company, which is obliged to pay the funds even after the death of the insured.
If compensation from the company is not enough, then claims may be brought against the heirs of the deceased person, since the testator’s debts are also included in the estate. In this case, a standard collection scheme is used. Difficulties can arise only in a situation if the deceased person does not have property in his possession, so if it doesn’t work out, he can recover money from the relatives of the deceased.
Conclusion
The need to recover damage from the culprit of the accident can occur for various reasons, for example, if he does not have an insurance policy or if he has really suffered serious damage that is not covered by insurance payments. In other cases, damage is collected from the insurance culprit of the accident.
The procedure can be carried out peacefully or through a court. In the second case, funds are forcibly recovered by bailiffs. Compensation is permitted not only for material damage, but also for moral damage caused by the victims.