Is it permissible to drive a car after an accident?

Why might a car be impounded?

An arrest involves the imposition of a ban on the disposal or use of property belonging to the debtor (defendant, suspect, accused), and in some cases the seizure of such property.

A car, like any other property, can be subject to seizure. Accordingly, registration of transactions with it (for example, purchase and sale) while under arrest is impossible.

The court or bailiffs can impose an arrest. It should be understood that the seizure of property is not a punitive measure. The main purpose of the arrest is to ensure the execution of a court decision to collect the amount of debt from the debtor, confiscate property, etc.

The car will be released from seizure if the grounds for its imposition are removed. For example, there is no need to apply arrest if the debtor has fully repaid the amount of debt.

As for the reasons for the seizure, there may be several of them. The most common:

• the owner of the car has a debt on a loan, for utilities, etc., the collection of which is carried out by bailiffs according to a writ of execution;
• initiation of a criminal case against the owner for crimes, as an additional punishment, for which confiscation of property is provided;
• filing a civil claim against the owner for debt collection, damages, or if the subject of the dispute is the car itself.

Ways to check a car for arrest and restrictions

There are many services that allow you to obtain information about a car, fines, and transactions with it. Such information can be provided by both public authorities and private organizations. The most famous state information resources are:

• service of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate of the Russian Federation;
• service of the FSSP of the Russian Federation.

In addition to these resources, information about the car can be obtained on the portal of the Moscow government (for residents of Moscow and the Moscow region), on the website of the Russian Union of Auto Insurers, etc.

By VIN code

A VIN code is a unique vehicle identifier that is known to a limited number of people. Therefore, most services use it to check seizures, restrictions and obtain other information.

For example, to check using the traffic police database, you need the VIN code.

By license plate

With only the license plate information available, checking to seize the car is impossible.
However, by entering the car number on the traffic police website in the request field, you can find out, for example, about the presence of fines imposed on the owner for traffic violations. At the same time, knowing the car number, you can use the database of the Union of Auto Insurers to find out the VIN code:

1. On the website of the Union of Auto Insurers, enter the car number in the request form. The service will indicate the MTPL policy number.
2. Open the “Information about insured vehicles” tab and enter the policy number in the request form. The service will indicate the vehicle's VIN code.

Why do you need to check your car?

When buying a car second-hand, the new car owner starts driving it, and after some time it turns out that some of the car’s systems are not functioning well due to an accident in which the vehicle was a participant.

Also, the car may be stolen, or it may be arrested by bailiffs with a court order in hand. Not every motorist will want to buy a damaged car, even if it has been well repaired.

Checking will help you find out:

• actual mileage and participation of the car in an accident;
• whether the vehicle is wanted or stolen;
• whether arrested by court order.

Let's find out how to check whether a car has been in an accident, and other facts from its history. The potential owner will need the vehicle's VIN number . This is a unique vehicle code.

If the seller has nothing to hide, he will provide it to you. It is quite problematic to find out whether a car was involved in an accident just by looking at the driver’s license number. Better use the VIN number.

Check through the traffic police website

Checking a car for an accident using the VIN code on the traffic police website is very fast and free. You need to go to the website: https://www.gibdd.ru/check/auto/, enter the VIN code data and request a check for participation in an accident.

But the check takes into account only accidents since 2015 . Also on the same page you can check the car for any restrictions or if it is wanted.

There, at the bottom of the page, there are links with which you can check the car to see if it is pledged (the Federal Notary Chamber service), as well as information about compulsory civil liability insurance (RSA website).

If you encounter any problems, you can send an email to technical support.

At the stage of checking the car history online, check the car you like on several Internet resources at once. Some reviews indicate that checking using the traffic police website does not always work correctly.

Autocode

You can also check your car for an accident using the Autocode service: https://avtokod.mos.ru/.

This is a specialized portal that was developed on the basis of a state program for checking vehicles by license plate or special VIN number.

In addition to the necessary information, they provide a photo of the car. The check is carried out quickly, using the license plate number or VIN code. The necessary information is entered into the search and verification is performed. If information about the vehicle is available, it can be purchased at a minimum cost.

Each report offers information collected from a large number of different resources, which allows for maximum completeness of information.

Using the portal, you can check the driver for an accident, and also find out:

• characteristics of the vehicle equipment (color, year of manufacture, registration, power, engine size);
• mileage information;
• fact of participation in an accident, photographs of damage;
• whether the car was used as a taxi;
• whether he was or is still wanted;
• whether a loan has been issued for the car;
• information from customs services;
• data on repair work (if the data passed through insurance companies);
• other useful information.

Autocode is a site that provides information about accidents in which a car has been involved, as well as other useful information about a specific vehicle.

Other resources

There are many websites for car inspections in 2021. Let's highlight some of the most popular:

1. Vincar (https://vincar.ru/) cooperates with the traffic police and insurance organizations. The database is continuously updated by specialists who have access to information from insurance companies. 15 days after the accident, theft, or the start of the search, the database provides data on all events.
2. Carfax (https://vincarfax.ru/free-carfax). Many users note the simplicity and convenience of the interface, which provides easy and comfortable verification. Data is processed promptly. You can generate an electronic copy of the report.
3. A similar check is carried out on the Autobot portal : https://avtobot.net/. On the website you can also order on-site diagnostics of your car by an expert. The cost of the visit and report is about 3,000 rubles. The site promises that their experts undergo thorough checks and are good specialists. The following contacts are also given. You can submit a request for verification on the website. The car may be “clean” legally. But this does not guarantee you that the car was not involved in an accident. The driver may not have registered the accident.

Let's figure out how to check a car for participation in an accident?

How to check a car for arrest on the traffic police website

All data on prohibitions on registration actions, as well as the arrest of vehicles, is accumulated in the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate of the Russian Federation, because it is this government body that is authorized to carry out registration actions with cars. For the convenience of citizens, the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate website has a service for checking cars based on restrictions on registration actions.

After opening the service, in the “Vehicle Check” window, enter the VIN code. Checking is also possible using the body or chassis number. From the four check types below, select the last one: “Check for restrictions” and request a check.

If the data entered by the user matches the number (VIN code) in the database of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate of the Russian Federation, the service will indicate that restrictions have been imposed on the registration of this vehicle or that it is under arrest. If there is no such data in the database, then the user will receive information that there are no matches, therefore, the car is free from arrest and restrictions.

Information check

How to drive a car without documents

Checking against various databases will allow you to check whether there was an accident or not.
It should be noted right away that today there are many services that allow you to find this information, but not all of them are free. Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say for sure. On the one hand, the cost of such a check is low, but at the same time you will be given accurate information regarding your car. On the other hand, when paying a virtual account, you have no guarantee that all the data will be truly correct.

After all, everything that can be found out by car number is publicly available in the traffic police databases. But if they were not involved in the analysis of the incident, then this information is not contained anywhere.

Also, you have no guarantee that you will waste your money as these sites may not provide any information at all.

What should you do and what services can you use?

Online portal of the traffic police.

Thanks to the service on the official website, you can find out all the necessary data about your future car. To do this, just enter the vehicle number, popularly called vin-code.

The portal provides the following information:

• car data: make, model, production code, body type and technical data on the configuration;
• all owners of this car (you can check the information in the “one owner” ad);
• obligation to financial institutions (loan, pledge, seizure, etc.);
• maintenance data.

This database covers information from various constituent entities of the Russian Federation, is constantly replenished and updated, data appears in the database almost immediately after the incident. So if this database does not show data about a particular car, and it is not new from the showroom, then you should think about whether you need to buy this car or not.

Insurance company database

Just a few years ago, if a car was involved in an accident, the insurance company would increase the car’s BMR, but the owner could get around this by renewing the contract with another company. But today there is a unified base that prevents such manipulations and eliminates deception.

This kind of information is very useful not only for those who want to purchase a used car, but also when hiring a driver for a company in order to check it.

The database of insurance companies is located on the official website of the RSA, where the following information is displayed:

• information about the owner of the vehicle;
• driver's insurance and class information;
• technical characteristics of the vehicle.

You may not find information here about how many owners this car has had, but if the data shows a reduction factor, it means the car was in an accident. And this may be enough to refuse to purchase this vehicle.

Vin code

Car owners often compare the VIN code to a person’s fingerprints. This number is assigned to the vehicle, and it is installed on all the most important parts of the vehicle. Therefore, if the parts have changed, the system will definitely issue them.

Today there are several online services where you can find out whether there was an accident with a car or not. Some of them are paid, so you can use them only at your own risk.

And speaking of risks. Buying a used car is always associated with danger and breakdowns. Even if you didn’t find anything illegal, the car may simply be old. Keep this in mind if you hope that it can be changed over time.

Have a nice trip!

Check on the bailiffs website

Unlike the traffic police, the bailiff service does not take into account cars, but debtors. When opening the FSSP debtor verification service, you need to enter the following data:

• citizen's full initials;
• date of birth;
• region of residence.

If enforcement proceedings are being carried out against the debtor, the FSSP RF service will provide information about the amount of debt and the restrictions imposed.

We recommend checking the car using both services, since only together they can provide comprehensive information regarding the arrest or restrictions on a specific car.

What information can be obtained during verification?

In addition to data on the presence of arrest or restrictions, the information services of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate of the Russian Federation and the Federal Bailiff Service of the Russian Federation provide other useful information.

So, for example, by finding the owner of a car in the list of debtors, you can find out some information about the collectors and the amount of the debt. This will determine the seriousness of the claims against the debtor. If the debt is significant, then the likelihood of seizure of the car is high. It is also possible that the owner has a debt, restrictions on the property have already been imposed, but the information on the traffic police website has not yet been updated.

As for the traffic police service, using it, you can find out about the number and amount of unpaid fines, previous transactions with the car, its participation in an accident, as well as whether the car you are looking for is wanted or not. All this information is also available by specifying the vehicle's VIN code in the request field.

Step-by-step instructions for checking the legal purity of a car when purchasing

First of all, the car is checked for loans and collateral problems. Signs of car debt:

1. There is an entry about the creditor in the CASCO policy.
2. Duplicate PTS.
3. The car is sold a short time after purchase.
4. The vehicle passport indicates that the car is being sold under a commission agreement.
5. Low cost.
6. There is no purchase and sale agreement in hand.

It is more difficult to check a car if it is in debt to small creditor companies or private individuals. In this case, you need to contact the state bailiffs website to exclude the possibility of legal proceedings against the car.

Second step: checking the car for theft.

The buyer must understand that when purchasing a car that is listed as stolen, Art. 302 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. According to this law, a found car, if it is resold after it was stolen, can be returned to the owner, even if the buyer is in good faith. The only thing the purchaser can count on is a court case with the seller under Art. 450 and 460 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Signs of a stolen car:

1. Lack of at least one set of keys.
2. Damage and signs of lock dismantling.
3. The vehicle's VIN does not match the data in the documents.
4. Checking numbers.
5. Lack of compulsory motor liability insurance policy or data discrepancy.
6. The owner refuses to check the car.

Particular attention should be paid to the originality of documents. If there are signs of counterfeiting or corrections made, then you should refrain from purchasing. The check is carried out on special Internet resources or directly on the website of the traffic police and bailiffs.

To check on Internet resources, you need to use the following sites:

https://pristav-russia.ru/ - website of bailiffs.

https://gibdd.rf/ - traffic police website.

To do this, you must enter the car’s VIN code or license plate number on the resources, depending on the request. After some time, information from the database is displayed on the screen.

How much does a check cost?

On the websites of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate of the Russian Federation, the FSSP of the Russian Federation and the Union of Auto Insurers, you can check your car for free.
No registration is required to use these resources. On other services you will have to register or pay for the information provided.

So, the availability of services from the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate of the Russian Federation, the Federal Bailiff Service of the Russian Federation, and the Union of Auto Insurers allows you to obtain complete and up-to-date information about the vehicle you are purchasing, whether it is wanted, check for participation in an accident, and the number of previous transactions in a few minutes without registration and for free. By wisely using the available open data, you can be sure that the transaction will be safe, and the purchased car will not cause trouble in the future.