Actions in case of an accident and receiving payment if you have CASCO and OSAGO

The difference between OSAGO and CASCO

OSAGO is mandatory - it is the law. Its object is possible damage caused to health and property of third parties as a result of an accident. If there is no compulsory motor liability insurance policy, the culprit is obliged to compensate for the damage himself. For the driver, the MTPL policy is beneficial because if the accident was not his fault, compensation will be paid to him by his insurance company.
CASCO insurance is voluntary. As part of it, the car is insured against all kinds of troubles. Along with a traffic accident, a car can be subject to theft, fire, damage by intruders, death due to a natural disaster and other risks. Then the losses will be compensated by the insurance company under CASCO insurance.

The price of a driver's insurance policy depends on many factors.
These include a list of risks, the age of the machine, and its technical condition. Within the framework of compulsory motor liability insurance, it also matters how often a person has been involved in accidents in past periods - especially since January 2019, which we have already written about in detail. OSAGO and CASCO insurance can be obtained from two different insurance companies. After all, insurance conditions, including financial ones, may differ among several insurers. But now the question arises, are simultaneous payments allowed?

Typical situation: the driver is not the culprit of the accident and can receive both payment under OSAGO and compensation under CASCO.

Is it worth applying?

So, if the obligation to obtain a motor vehicle license is enshrined at the legislative level, then in the case of voluntary insurance, car owners often have a question: is it worth issuing CASCO insurance if there is compulsory motor liability insurance? The answer to this question is clearly positive.

In order to protect yourself as much as possible from financial losses resulting from an accident, it is recommended to take out both an OSAGO policy and a CASCO policy . There is a reasonable explanation for this. So, if the driver caused an accident, the damage he caused to other persons will be compensated by the insurance company that issued the MTPL policy. At the same time, the insurer from whom he purchased CASCO will finance the restoration of the car of the person responsible for the accident.

However, if there is no voluntary insurance policy, then, accordingly, he will have to restore his car at his own expense. In addition, if the car cannot be repaired, then the owner risks being left with nothing. Thus, both CASCO and OSAGO play a very important role in organizing the driver’s financial security on the road, complementing each other to a certain extent. In this regard, it is best to purchase both compulsory and voluntary insurance.

Is it possible to achieve simultaneous payments?

As a general rule, the law does not allow this. This is due to the fact that the two types of insurance cover different risks. OSAGO is aimed at compensating for damage in case of an accident, and CASCO is mainly associated with minimizing losses caused to the car.

However, with CASCO, the insurance risk is somewhat broader and fully covers any damage, including those that can be covered by compulsory motor liability insurance.

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If you contact insurers within the framework of one insured event, guided simultaneously by the MTPL and CASCO policies, the car owner faces no less than criminal prosecution for fraud - namely, an attempt to receive money twice for one insured event.

Such actions, according to the letter of the law, are qualified as fraud in Criminal Law, if the car owner does it intentionally, or as unjust enrichment in civil proceedings, if the policyholder can prove the absence of intent to violate the law.

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains Article 159.5, which specifically deals with fraudulent actions in the insurance industry. Punishment is provided both in the form of a fine of up to 120 thousand rubles, and in the form of arrest for up to 4 months. Everything will depend on the amount of damage caused to the insurer.

Excerpt from the article below

If both policies were purchased from different insurance companies, then a number of cunning car owners are trying to get compensation in two places at once. Theoretically, this option is possible.

However, it must be taken into account that insurance companies quickly exchange data on the payments provided and the fraud is discovered very quickly. And if a criminal case is not initiated, this will still be followed by a claim against the driver for recovery of damages caused.

Compensation under OSAGO and CASCO at the same time is impossible for one more reason. The fact is that now, in most cases, within the framework of “automobile insurance”, insurance companies give preference to repairing the car and sending it directly to a service station. Money for work is also transferred there. Such regulations are contained in the Federal Law on Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance. Therefore, there is practically no room for maneuver - after the repair it will be impossible to receive a payment under CASCO.

In what cases is compensation under compulsory motor liability insurance and CASCO insurance still possible?

There are several situations where both insurance policies may actually come into play.

The onset of another risk. The party injured in the accident negotiates with the at-fault party's insurance company to pay compensation in cash. Here, legal relations develop within the framework of the MTPL policy. However, the next day, the damaged car is stolen without waiting for repairs. In this case, the provision of insurance is carried out within the framework of CASCO.
Compensation for damage to your car if you are at fault for an accident. The driver, who had both policies, caused an accident, but damaged his car in the process. In this case, payments will be made to the injured party at the expense of OSAGO, and under CASCO the driver will reimburse for his repairs.
Lack of compensation under compulsory motor liability insurance. If the amount of compensation under compulsory motor liability insurance is not enough for repairs, the car owner has the right to use a CASCO policy to compensate for the missing part.
The culprit lacks compulsory motor liability insurance. If the victim’s car is insured under CASCO, then he can compensate for the damage through this policy, rather than seek compensation from the culprit. The insurance company, by the way, will then file a recourse claim against the culprit of the accident with a high degree of probability.

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If you need to collect insurance compensation or the insurance company refuses to pay it, our insurance lawyers are ready to answer all your questions.

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Compensation for losses in case of an accident under compulsory motor liability insurance

Having an MTPL policy is mandatory for all drivers who drive vehicles in Russia. It is this policy that guarantees compensation for damage to the injured party after an accident. However, often many issues regarding this type of insurance are considered in the courts, since the parties cannot come to a common agreement.

Follow the following recommendations to resolve all issues without unnecessary red tape and going to court. There is nothing complicated in their execution. The main thing is to notify your insurer in time that an insured event has occurred, prepare a complete package of documents and submit them to the insurance company so that it can make an appropriate decision.

Attention! Any person has the right to contact an insurance company if the following conditions are met:

the accident involved only two cars;
both drivers have an MTPL policy;
none of them were injured in the accident.

The absence of at least one of them implies compensation for damage by the company that insured the liability of the person responsible for the accident. Let's take a closer look at the sequence of actions of the injured party in an accident.

The process of assigning insurance payments under compulsory motor liability insurance begins with notifying the insurer about the time of occurrence of the insured event. Contact him no later than 15 days from the date of the accident. Missing this deadline does not prevent you from receiving a refund. But it will significantly complicate the solution of this issue.

The insurer may refuse to pay you because you missed the deadline. You will have to appeal his actions by going to court. Despite the fact that success in solving this issue is undeniable, it will still take a lot of time. Meeting the notice period will speed up your receipt of your refund.

You should have the following documents with you:

statement of the victim in the accident. It is filled out on the insurer's form. Each insurance company develops and approves its own forms of such statements;
notification of an accident;
certificate and protocol on the accident, resolution issued by the traffic police;
documents for the vehicle;
OSAGO policy;
passport of the recipient of insurance compensation;
act of assessing the damage caused to the car (if any);
if the car was assessed before the insurer arrived, then a copy of the telegram or other document about his call;
a copy of the service agreement with the appraisal company, confirmation of payment made under it.

These should be the main actions of the injured party. The insurer, having received all the necessary documents and inspected the damaged car, satisfies the application within 20 days or refuses to make insurance payments to the applicant if there are legal grounds for doing so.

The insurer's refusal must be justified and motivated. Practice shows that many insurers are trying in every possible way to reduce the amount of damage caused to the car. They do this quite consciously in order to reduce their costs.

Therefore, the participant in the accident has the right to use the services of independent appraisers. They can objectively assess the damage caused to the car before or after the insurers arrive. The costs incurred by you to pay for their services will be reimbursed to you in proportion to the satisfaction of the requirements of the court decision.

The insurer makes payments in fixed amounts under compulsory motor liability insurance (Article 7 of the Federal Law “On compulsory insurance of civil liability of vehicle owners”):

no more than 500 thousand rubles to one victim when harm is caused to his life or health;
no more than 400 thousand rubles for damage to the property of one victim.

If the amount of actual damage caused exceeds the above limits, then recover the difference in court from the person responsible for the accident. To do this, you should collect documents confirming your actual costs for the purchase of medications, medical certificates, and doctors’ opinions. Prepare a statement of claim and submit it to the court.

But do not forget about using a peaceful method to resolve the issue. Tell the person at fault about your intentions. It is possible that he will agree with your arguments and pay for it voluntarily. In this case, he will not have to additionally reimburse you for state fees and attorney fees.

When concluding an agreement with an insurance company, carefully read all the situations that will not fall under the concept of an insured event.

Along with this, the following circumstances often serve as reasons for the insurer’s refusal to make payments:

incomplete package of the applicant's document;
incorrectly executed documents;
intentional commission of an accident by the insured;
the driver being under the influence of alcohol or drugs;
the driver does not have a license to drive a vehicle or his name is not included in the insurance policy;
the car has not passed the scheduled technical inspection;
presence of a manufacturing defect in the damaged vehicle.

The right to choose: OSAGO or CASCO

When you have a CASCO or MTPL policy and the driver is not to blame for the traffic accident, he can choose which type of insurance to use. Here you need to calculate everything financially.

So, within the framework of compulsory motor liability insurance, the car will most likely be sent for repairs. It is advisable to have a rough idea of its cost in advance. At the same time, the CASCO agreement may provide for cash payments in case of damage to the car.

There is also this nuance: If compensation for damage in an accident is issued under CASCO, the next policy may cost the driver significantly more. The insurance company will make an adjustment for the accident rate of this particular car.

Therefore, if the damage is minor, it is better to contact the culprit’s insurer so that he can arrange repairs of the damaged car under compulsory motor liability insurance. Let us remind you that the maximum amount of insurance compensation in this case is currently 400 thousand rubles.

When thinking about receiving insurance compensation under CASCO, you should remember that not the entire amount necessary to restore the car will be paid. In insurance there is such a thing as a deductible. It refers to the amount by which the amount of compensation is reduced. The amount of the franchise is influenced by the technical condition of the car and the previous insurance reputation of its owner.

Also, for many car enthusiasts, the speed of car restoration is important. Here the preferred option is CASCO. The fact is that the MTPL rule allows an average of a month to consider a received application and make a decision on it.

If we are talking about CASCO insurance, the terms for processing materials for an insured event are stipulated in the contract. For some insurance companies they are within two weeks. Therefore, under CASCO you can quickly organize the required repair work.