Before you start driving a car, the driver must purchase a CTP insurance policy. Since 2016, insurers launched the sale of insurance contracts through official websites. This feature allows customers not to waste time in the office and to acquire the service without leaving home. But in this regard, the problem of fraud. Therefore, for each owner it is important to know how to check the insurance policy for compulsory motor liability insurance. There are several ways to verify insurance contracts for authenticity.
Visual inspection of the policy
Most policyholders purchase insurance policies at the offices of insurance companies. They believe that buying directly from the insurer will prevent fraud. But is the insurance company itself a fraud, and how to check the insurance policy on the spot? To do this, pay attention to the very form of the form.
- The strict reporting form is approximately 10 mm longer than the usual A-4 sheet.
- The color of the document is pink, with villi. Paint should not remain on hands.
- There are watermarks (emblem PCA), which are clearly distinguishable.
- On the back of the form is a strip of metal.
- Series of form EEE.
If the type of form is in doubt, then you should not purchase a policy from this insurer. It is necessary to initially check information about the insurance company, to make sure that the settlement of losses is carried out.
Company Verification
In Russia, there were many insurance companies. If in 2004 there were 1280 companies registered in the country, then in 2009 their number decreased and became equal to 743. In 2017, licenses were revoked and the number of companies was reduced to 237. The license is canceled due to the fact that companies violate the law or do not cope with the settlement of losses and become bankrupt. A company that sold yesterday may not have the right to do so today. Therefore, before choosing an insurance company, you must check the availability of a license. Moreover, the license should be for each product.
It is better to find out the list of companies that are licensed at the moment, and purchase a policy from them. The list of insurance companies is in the PCA system.
PCA
RSA is a non-profit organization of insurance companies in the Russian Federation, which regulates the sale and operation of OSAGO policies. All insurance companies that have received a license to carry out OSAGO activities must necessarily become members of this union. Insurers whose Central Bank has withdrawn their license automatically fly out of the company.
PCA Activities
The Union of Insurers was specifically created so that the activities of insurance companies are legal.
- The Union monitors insurers so that their activities are within the law. Activity monitoring is carried out constantly, but on-site monitoring takes place once every three years.
- The company is engaged in the transfer of forms for insurance companies. PCA may stop issuing policies or limit their number to suspicious companies.
- PCA can make a publication about bad insurers.
- The Union may fine companies for non-compliance with PCA rules.
- The company deals with issues of policyholders. It will help the driver answer the question of how to check the insurance policy. Also, PCA will help return lost discounts to policyholders (if they were actually recorded).
Checking the contract number using PCA
How to check the validity of the insurance policy? One of the best ways to determine the authenticity of a contract is to verify by number. Often the fake policy number was once owned by an insurance company, but could have been damaged or deleted. That is, the status of this form of OSAGO is invalid. It may also be that a policy with such a number exists and is valid, but only belongs to another person.
Verification process
How to check the insurance policy number? The verification procedure is simple and does not take much time. To do this, go to the official website of the PCA and fill out the search form. RSA is a unified OSAGO database, it stores information about all genuine insurance contracts.
In the windows that appear, you need to enter information:
- a series of the contract (consists of letters, when buying at the office of the company - it is EEE, when purchasing an electronic contract - XXX);
- policy number (ten digits).
After entering it is necessary to confirm that the testing person is not a robot and click on the corresponding checkmark. Next, select "Search." Within a minute, a response from the program will be received.
Program Answers:
- Issued to the policyholder, that is, the policy is valid and is at the client’s place (if the policy is real, then information about the policyholder, his full name, the insured car, and also the term of the contract should appear).
- The contract is in the insurance company - means that this policy is in the insurance company and is not used (you need to make a second check in a few days, maybe the information about the sale of the contract has not yet managed to get into the database, if not, then you need to contact the company).
- The form has expired (this status is usually used for forms that have been damaged by insurance consultants).
- Lost (in case of loss of policies, insurance companies contact the police, and the corresponding number is officially declared as lost, so they will not be able to pay for it).
- The manufacturer issued (such a status means that a strict reporting form does exist, but it has not yet been transferred to the insurance company, fraudsters stole the number and assigned it to a fake contract).
In the process of verification on a unified OSAGO database, you must carefully enter information. Sometimes policyholders make one mistake and get a completely different answer. You also need to use the services of the PCA system five days after the purchase of the insurance contract. Since the information should go to the database from the insurance company, and this does not happen instantly. The duration of the input depends on the transfer of funds for the contract, in addition, all licensed companies in the Russian Federation use the same database.
Database check for duplicates
How can I check the insurance policy? Validating with vehicle data helps identify fake duplicates. Fraudsters can use the CTP number to sell multiple policies. For example, while checking the policy number in the database, information about the authenticity of the policy may come out. But it can be sold to another motorist.
The check is carried out in a similar way, only on the basis of the control it is necessary to read the information on the contract. In the window that opens, there will be information about the car: state number, VIN, make of the car, the beginning and end of the action, belonging to the insurance company. If the policy is valid and the information converges, then you can safely drive. If the information is different, then you need to contact the insurance company and ask to resolve this issue in a short time. You can also leave a complaint in the PCA system.
Check by car number
How to check the insurance policy? If you do not have a CTP insurance contract at hand, you can use the data of the machine. You can use any data. For example, a state vehicle sign. In the appropriate cell, you need to drive the number. It must be entered completely with all numbers, letters, region. Example, A111AA11, where “A” is letters, “1” is numbers and region.
If information on the existence of the policy is released based on the results of the check, then you need to check the rest of the contract data (insurance company, contract validity, information about the policyholder).
Inspection of the policy by the traffic police
With the advent of electronic policies there has been a change in checking the availability of documents from drivers by the traffic police. Earlier, vehicle owners presented employees with a paper version of insurance. If the policy was valid and the information was correct, then the employees let the drivers go. This system works now, but there have been some changes.
How DPS checks the insurance policy? The data on the CTP insurance policy is in a common database, therefore, the traffic police also use it to identify violators of law and order. When purchasing an electronic policy, the owner of the vehicle must carry the printed contract with him. But this agreement can be fake, as it does not have watermarks.
Employees can control the legitimacy of the policy using a special network of IMTS of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. This network helps employees to obtain information about the contract, its validity, the number of drivers entered, their driver’s licenses. To do this, they enter in the search information about the state car sign and VIN. If the document information is not received in the system, then employees can also use the SAR database.
Electronic policy check
How to check the data of the insurance policy if it was purchased electronically? Information about online policies gets into the PCA system much faster. Verification is carried out similarly to the previous methods. You must also enter policy information or vehicle data. The only difference is that the electronic policy series is XXX, and the usual one is EEE.
Often scammers make copies of the sites of real insurance companies. A fake site is very similar to a legal page, but you need to carefully read all the letters, as there are differences in one sign.
Fraud
Often, policyholders themselves consciously purchase policies from fraudsters in order not to pay a fine. Such actions are unlawful and help the development of fraud in the country. A deliberate purchase of a fake policy is due to the attraction of insurers at low prices, as well as confidence in their driving experience. On average, the cost of the policy is 12,000-18,000 in cities and 6,000 rubles in areas. Fraudsters can offer a policy for 1000 rubles, which is approximately equal to one fine for the lack of a policy. Of course, the owner of a vehicle can be flattered at such a price. But it’s better to pay for a valid insurance policy and be sure of the reliability of the company than to overpay for restoring someone else’s car later.
The absence of an insurance policy is punishable by a fine of 800 rubles. The presence of a fake insurance policy equals its absence. That is, in the insured event, if the culprit of the traffic accident had a fake policy, then you will have to pay in personal money. Usually it comes to court, and the culprit has to pay the injured driver the amount of damage, as well as related costs.
Conclusion
How to check whether a valid insurance policy? After purchasing a policy, you need to wait five days for the information to get into a common database. In order to determine the authenticity of a document, you must use the PCA website. It is necessary to enter your data accurately, without errors. Since any error will lead to incorrect information.