Is it possible to purchase MTPL without additional insurance?
Yes. And here two options are possible for you:
- they don’t force you to contact another insurance company,
- refuse other products on top of MTPL insurance,
- pay and purchase all additional insurance that is imposed on you, and then return it back to the insurer.
The first option is the simplest and most obvious. But it doesn’t always work for the simple reason that other insurance companies may impose additional things on you that you don’t need, or even more expensive than the first one. In addition, if we are talking about a small town, then another insurance company may be quite far from you.
The second option is not so simple - if you refuse additional insurance, then the policy may not be sold to you for various reasons: either the forms will run out, or the computer will freeze, or the employee’s working day will end (and the next one will never begin), etc. . Yes, the situation in 2021 began to improve significantly. Just a few years ago, it was almost impossible to buy a compulsory motor liability insurance policy without additional imposed additional services and products, and if it was possible somewhere, there was a queue for a month or two.
But the third option is the most favorable in terms of the number of visits to various authorities and institutions, including the insurance company.
So, let's talk about everything in order!
What is the cooling-off period and terms of return of the imposed insurance?
The cooling-off period is the amount of time (14 days) during which a citizen can cancel the concluded insurance contract. In this case, the funds for the purchase of an insurance policy are returned in full. The rule applies if, during the time that has elapsed since the conclusion of the insurance agreement, no situations arise that show signs of an insured event. The Bank of Russia has established the possibility of using a cooling period.
Subsequently, changes were made to the regulations. Thus, Directive of the Bank of Russia No. 4500-U dated August 21, 2021 fixed the updated validity period of the cooling period. Now it is 14 calendar days. Previously, a citizen had the right to contact the authorized body within 5 working days. The countdown of the period begins from the moment the voluntary insurance contract is concluded.
The insurance company cannot refuse to sell the policy!
According to Article 1 of the Federal Law on Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance, an insurance contract (in other words, a compulsory motor liability insurance policy) is public. This follows by definition of such a contract. And for public contracts there are serious requirements under Russian legislation. Thus, according to Part 3 of Article 426 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, an entrepreneur is prohibited from refusing citizens to enter into a public contract.
All this means that the insurer does not have the right to refuse to sell MTPL insurance to the car owner... But such a right appears if there is no objective possibility of concluding an agreement.
Is the functionality of the computer and the availability of policy forms such an opportunity? Yes it is. Accordingly, otherwise the insurance company has every right to refuse to sell you insurance.
Further - worse
Moreover, a refusal to practically enforce the protection of your rights can only be in writing. To receive it, you need to submit a written application to purchase an MTPL policy.
But there is an important subtlety here - the time for consideration of your application by law is as much as 30 days (Part 1 of Article 445 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). This means that if you applied for insurance a day or two or a week before the expiration of the current one, then waiting for a written refusal is not your option, because there will be a period when you simply will not be able to drive a car due to lack of insurance.
Thus, if there are at least 30 days until the end of your current MTPL policy, then when imposing “additional insurance” the best option for you is to submit an application in writing (and take a copy of the application with a stamp of acceptance for video recording), which the insurance company is authorized to consider for 30 days and after that, give a reasoned refusal or enter into an insurance contract.
If the insurance company refuses you illegally and directly “out of lawlessness” - on video or in writing, then below we have instructions on how to attract a large fine for this.
The insurance company has no right to impose “extras”
Everything is very simple! Since an insurance company is an organization or individual entrepreneur (agent or broker for selling policies), you are an individual who is going to buy an insurance service for money, then consumer relations apply between you and, accordingly, the consumer protection law applies.
And, according to Part 2 of Article 16 of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights, it is prohibited to condition the purchase of some services on additional services - that is, the purchase of compulsory motor liability insurance with any other insurance, banking services and any other products.
Is it possible to refuse additional insurance and how?
So, we have come to the most important thing - the Central Bank in our case provided the best opportunity to avoid the imposition of additional insurance when purchasing compulsory motor liability insurance in the form of the opportunity to refuse the first ones with minimal damage to yourself (except for allowing you to use your own funds).
We are talking about the so-called cooling period. The cooling-off period is the consumer's opportunity to change his mind and cancel any voluntary insurance within 14 days after purchasing it.
This right for you is contained in the instructions of the Bank of Russia dated No. 3854-U on the requirements for concluding insurance services. According to the very first paragraph of this instruction:
1. When carrying out voluntary insurance, the insurer is obliged to provide a condition for the return of the paid insurance premium to the policyholder in the event of the policyholder’s refusal from the voluntary insurance contract within 14 calendar days from the date of its conclusion in the absence of events in this period that have signs of an insured event.
Until 2021, this period was shorter - 5 days, but then the Central Bank made changes to the cooling period.
As you can see, you can refuse and return all additional insurance within 14 days after purchasing it. Although, to do this, you will still have to first purchase them along with compulsory motor liability insurance. At the same time, according to paragraph 5 of the same instructions, the insurance company is obliged to return the money in full. But paragraph 6 immediately says that the refund amount is calculated in proportion to the validity period of the additional insurance. However, its effect does not necessarily begin the next day after purchase.
There are very rare exceptions when it is impossible to return the imposed “extras”:
- if you are a foreign citizen and are in Russia for work purposes, and additional medical insurance has been imposed on you,
- if during this time there was an insured event under additional insurance and you have already applied for compensation for damage,
- if this “addition” is mandatory for you (provided for by law) when carrying out your professional activities,
- if you were sold an international MTPL.
Return instructions
- First of all, you will have to buy compulsory motor liability insurance along with all the imposed additional insurances - alas, but this cannot be avoided in our case.
- Next, within 14 days, you must submit a free-form application to waive additional insurance with a request for a refund in cash or non-cash form. In the latter case, you need to indicate your account details for crediting.
- The insurer within 10 working days (clause 8 of the Instructions) is obliged to transfer the money to your account or return it in cash at your choice.
.
Refund of imposed insurance
So, you received a loan or bought compulsory motor liability insurance and the bank or insurance company imposed insurance on you. This happened in a completely incomprehensible way, there was no talk of any insurance during registration, but in reality now you will have to pay extra money. Or you paid the full amount for insurance at the bank, and only then found out that it was completely unnecessary.
Another popular case is when you were intimidated by a bank or insurance company with the idea that without taking out insurance, a loan or compulsory motor liability insurance policy would be denied. All problems stem from a lack of seriousness in signing documents, because people often take credit specialists and insurance companies at their word. But according to the law, the words of a bank employee or insurance agent do not have legal force, the main thing is what is written in the contract or application. Always read documents carefully. If insurance is imposed, then try to record this fact on video or a voice recorder - this will become evidence of unlawful actions against you in court. Often, during a nice conversation with a loan officer, people sign where they are ticked, without reading the agreement or application at all. Or, for example, you ask not to take out insurance, but the employee says that this is a mandatory condition and if you refuse insurance, you cannot get a loan or take out a compulsory motor liability insurance policy. Let's outline the cases when loan insurance may be mandatory:
when applying for a car loan - insurance against the risk of loss or damage; for a mortgage loan - the obligation to insure the mortgaged apartment can be included by the bank on the basis of the Federal Law “On Mortgage”; in order to ensure the fulfillment of obligations under the contract - “other insurable interest” when applying for a consumer loan.
If the bank’s terms and conditions do not indicate “other insurable interest” as mandatory, you can refuse such insurance. And you can tell the employee that his desire to make the purchase of one service conditional on the mandatory purchase of another is illegal. Imposing life, health, property, etc. insurance on compulsory motor liability insurance is prohibited by law.
Moreover, from June 1, 2021, there are different rules for all new contracts. For which you can refuse insurance within 5 working days after signing. So, if the loan officer insists that insurance must be included, you can include it, and then write an application for refusal to pay the insurance amount. According to the new standards, it will now be possible to refuse almost any type of insurance (hull insurance, life insurance, medical insurance, etc.). This instruction is regulated by the Bank of Russia, accordingly, you can send your complaints to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. Let us remind you that this procedure is only suitable for contracts concluded from June 1, 2021.
If you have already applied for a loan before June 1, 2021, or have already paid it off, then you should not be upset. During the repayment of the loan, as well as within three years after payment (even if there were late payments), you can go to court to recover the amount spent on insurance.
Lawyers for the return of funds for imposed insurance provide the following services:
conduct consultations; analyze contract documents; provide assistance in collecting the evidence necessary to challenge insurance; draw up statements of claim and submit them to court; represent the client’s interests in court; receive a court decision.
It is not uncommon for the amount of insurance imposed to be high, because these are often unreasonably inflated figures, and the contracts are drawn up in a confusing manner and to the benefit of the banking or insurance organization. In such cases, we recommend contacting professional lawyers for the return of imposed insurance. Money recovery lawyers will be able to assess the possibility of recovering the amount spent on insurance, write a statement of claim to the court and fully handle your case until you receive the money.
Information provided by lawyers.
