What should the person at fault in an accident do after drawing up the European Protocol in 2021?

When can I apply?

Registration of the Europrotocol is provided only if all the following requirements are simultaneously met:

• there are no victims;
• Only two vehicles (including vehicles with trailers) are involved in the accident;
• both drivers have valid MTPL policies
• drivers are included in existing MTPL policies or if the vehicle is registered in a foreign country, the civil liability of the owner is insured within the framework of international insurance systems, taking into account the features provided for by law;
• motorists assume that the damage does not exceed the maximum payment amount (100,000 rubles is the general rule);
• both participants agree not to call the police;
• the culprit has been identified.

If at least one of the requirements is not met, drivers are required to call the traffic police. The same applies to situations in which the circumstances of the accident are uncertain or the assessment of damage is difficult.

The procedure for registering an accident according to the European protocol

If you have even the slightest doubt about the circumstances of the accident, the amount of damage, the documents of the culprit, do not tempt fate, call the traffic police inspectors and fill out the documents in the general manner. Read our article about the possible risks of using the Euro protocol.

Pull yourself together and follow these steps sequentially:

1. Inspect the scene of the accident together with the second participant in the accident (the driver of the second car). Find out if you disagree about who is the perpetrator and who is the victim. If there is no disagreement, then proceed to step 2. Otherwise, call the traffic police.
2. Inspect vehicle damage. If the damage to the victim’s car, according to a rough estimate, does not exceed 50,000 rubles, we follow the instructions further. If the damage is more than the specified amount, it is worth filing an accident only with the participation of the police.
3. Carefully check your documents – driver’s license, car documents. Both drivers must have valid MTPL policies and be included in them (if the number of drivers allowed to drive a vehicle is limited). Problems with documents - without hesitation, we call and wait for inspectors. Yes, according to the “MTPL rules”, communication of insurance policy data to other participants in an accident at their request is the responsibility of the driver. We strongly recommend checking the policy of the culprit on the RSA website - https://dkbm-web.autoins.ru/dkbm-web-1.0/bsostate.htm
4. Record all the circumstances of the accident - the location of the cars, damage, markings, road signs, etc. This can be very useful when controversial situations arise. Recording of harm can be carried out using photography or video recording or using navigation tools. A smartphone with geolocation mode enabled is suitable. In your phone's camera settings, enable adding coordinates to photos and/or videos. In accordance with clause 3 of the Rules for the provision of information about a traffic accident to the insurer, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 1, 2014 N 1002, photo or video filming must be taken within no more than 60 minutes after the accident and include images of: • state registration plates vehicles involved in an accident or identification numbers (VIN) (in the absence of state registration plates of vehicles); • places of damage to the vehicle; • relative position of vehicles involved in road accidents with reference to transport infrastructure objects or other non-movable objects; • state registration plate of the vehicle of the witness of the accident (if available).
5. Remove vehicles from the roadway. According to clause 2.6.1 of the Traffic Regulations of the Russian Federation, a driver involved in an accident is obliged to clear the roadway if an obstacle is created to the movement of other vehicles. Failure to fulfill this obligation may result in a fine (1000 rubles).
6. Fill out the European protocol form together - notification of an accident. Read detailed instructions below.
7. Exchange phone numbers, shake hands and you can leave the scene of the accident.
8. Notify the insurance company of the incident as soon as possible. This can be done by phone or through the insurer's website.

More on the topic: Types of liability applicable to those responsible for road accidents

What should the driver do?

An accident is a stressful situation, but the driver must quickly pull himself together and perform a number of simple actions:

1. Stop the car. Regardless of the surrounding circumstances, you cannot continue moving. You need to leave the car and roughly assess the damage.
2. Put up a warning triangle.
3. Record on a photo or video camera the scene of the accident, damage, license plates and brake marks.
4. Obtain personal information of witnesses: full name, address, telephone number. It is advisable to ask for written testimony.
5. Fill in the form.

The repair process and terms according to the European OSAGO protocol

After the amendments made to Law No. 40-FZ in April 2021, the motorist was left with no choice of how to compensate for damage in an accident under a compulsory motor liability insurance agreement. The car owner will have to have the car restored at a service station directed by the insurer or at the warranty workshop of a car dealer (if the car is less than two years old). Often, a car owner has a conflict with the insurance company if the warranty period for car repairs exceeds the established two years. To avoid such problems, it is necessary to take into account these circumstances in advance when concluding a contract, determining whether the client can choose a method of compensation for damage.

Attention

According to paragraph 10 of Art. 12 Federal Law No. 40, the insurer must, within five days from the date of provision of the European protocol, at its own expense, organize an expert examination of the car in order to establish the scope and cost of restoring the car.

Unless the terms of the MTPL policy provide otherwise, damaged parts and assemblies must be replaced with new ones, without using used or refurbished ones (Clause 15.1, Article 12 of Federal Law No. 40). The minimum guaranteed period for the quality of work in 2021 must be at least six months, and for applying paintwork - up to twelve months.

If the car owner disagrees with the amount of damage determined by the insurer or the expert organization hired by him, the motorist has the right to contact an independent expert firm to re-inspect the car.

The insurer must offer the car owner a service station (service station) located no more than fifty kilometers from the accident site, for which the insurance company must have a network of workshops in order to be able to ensure that this condition is met. If this is provided for in the agreement between the parties, the car owner chooses the repair contractor independently. These points are reflected in clause 15.2 of Art. 12 Federal Law No. 40. According to the same paragraph, the car is accepted for repair within twenty days after submitting documentation about the accident. The duration of repairs should not exceed thirty days.

How to fill out the Europrotocol

The Road Accident Notification form itself is issued by the insurance company when applying for a policy, but if the form is left at home, you can download it from the official website and print it out.

Filling out the paper takes place in two stages. The circumstances of the accident are described on the front side, and additional information is reflected on the back side.

It is necessary to fill out 2 forms (according to the number of participants in the accident).

You must enter in the form:

1. The scene of the accident. If we are talking about a route, you must indicate the name and kilometer.
2. The exact date.
3. Number of damaged vehicles (one or two).
4. Number of victims (none).
5. Inspection (not carried out).
6. Information about material damage. If a personal item in the car, for example a laptop, is damaged, it is also indicated in the document to receive compensation.
7. Contacts of witnesses.
8. Registration of traffic police officers (not carried out).
9. Information about the vehicle.
10. Driver data.
11. Information about the insurer.
12. Numbers and validity periods of OSAGO.
13. First strike diagram.
14. Detailed list of damages.

Next, you need to describe the accident and draw up a diagram. It marks the section of the road where the accident occurred, including street names, house numbers, markings, signs, and traffic lights. Next, the vehicles (A and B) are drawn with rectangles, highlighting the direction with arrows, and the impact with a cross. It is useful to indicate skid marks, potholes and other details related to the accident. Below each symbol is given a description.

At this stage, the front side of the form is completed. On the back, you must indicate the circumstances of the accident from the driver’s point of view and the person driving at the time of the accident. They also describe damage to personal belongings and note the presence of photo or video recording.

Any corrections are confirmed by the signatures of both parties.

New rules for registration of the European protocol in 2021

It should be remembered that drawing up a European protocol is not possible in all cases, but only in clearly defined cases.

Attention! If you have any questions, you can chat for free with a lawyer at the bottom of the screen or call Moscow; Saint Petersburg; Free call for all of Russia.

Attention

Until recently, it was required that both drivers agree on the interpretation of the circumstances of the incident and the determination of who was responsible for the accident. But with the entry into force of Resolution No. 1414, in 2021, the consent of drivers is excluded from the list of mandatory conditions if the GLONASS satellite system is installed in the car or motorists have a special mobile application “Road accident.Europrotocol”, which allows identifying the culprit without the presence of road traffic representatives at the scene police.

In case of damage to a car up to 100 thousand rubles, participants in an accident can draw up a Europrotocol using a regular form, even if there are disagreements, without registering the accident in the “Road Accident.Europrotocol” application. When the damage to a vehicle ranges from 100 thousand rubles to 400 thousand rubles, mutual agreement is required on the guilt of one of the participants in the accident and it is necessary to resort to registering the accident in the mobile application “DTP.Europrotocol”.

The size of the maximum limit on the refundable amount under the European protocol has also changed; this will be discussed below.

Recommendations for filling

Claims are made for incorrectly completed documents. Problems often arise if the driver:

• fills out the form with a pencil;
• writes illegibly (when the handwriting is peculiar, it is better to use block letters);
• makes mistakes, blots (if there are any, it is advisable to take new paper);
• leaves empty fields;
• uses abbreviations for passport data.

You should familiarize yourself with these requirements before starting to fill out the document.

Actions in case of insurance failure according to the European protocol

Justified reasons for refusals to accept European protocols by an insurance company in 2021 may be due to:

• errors, inaccuracies and corrections in the notification form, drawing it up in illegible handwriting;
• lack of signature of the second driver;
• violation of the conditions under which the European protocol is permitted;
• the date of submission of documentation is overdue;
• lack of confirmation using special technical means, in case of disagreement between the participants in the accident regarding the circumstances of the incident;
• evidence confirming that the document was prepared under conditions of pressure exerted on the originator.

The insurer does not have the right to refuse the client by unreasonably demanding the provision of a second copy of the European protocol filled out by another injured driver, or in other cases not provided for by law.

If the Investigative Committee refuses to accept the completed European Protocol in 2021 for unlawful reasons, the car owner must defend his interests in court.

But, according to Part 5 of Art. 4 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, a pre-trial process for resolving disputes is mandatory. Therefore, in this case, the car owner must contact the insurer with a written claim, indicating in the document:

• name of the authority where the paper is sent;
• the circumstances of the case, indicating the illegality of the refusal and reference to the current regulations;
• requirements for the execution of a claim;
• proposed response time and address for sending this message;
• list of applications.

At the end of the claim, the writer indicates the date when the paper was drawn up and signs with his full name. Applications must demonstrate that the applicant is correct and provide evidence to justify the filing of the claim.

If within thirty days the insurance company has not received a response to the submitted claim for payments in accordance with the European protocol or an unjustified refusal to pay has been confirmed, the car owner has the right to send a statement of claim to the arbitration court at the address of his residence or location of the insurer.

In addition to the insurer, a copy of such a claim can be sent to RSA, Rospotrebnadzor and other interested organizations.

For your information

Also, a claim may be filed in 2021 if the insurance company unreasonably underestimates the amount of compensation for damage under the issued European protocol or delays the consideration of the case.

Help with registration

Drivers do not always cope with the Europrotocol on their own. However, if motorists still do not want to call the traffic police, they can seek help. It is provided by the insurer. Drivers can call the company manager, who will advise them remotely.

The mobile application “OSAGO Assistant” (available on Android or iOS) may also be useful - free and easy-to-use step-by-step instructions for filling out. But, unfortunately, the application is not available for residents of some regions. This application only works if the State Services application with an active profile is already installed on your phone. To enter your personal account, the user enters the login and password with which he registered on the State Services portal. The service will begin dictating steps and asking questions, and will display windows for entering personal data. Motorists will only need to draw a diagram.

There are also other private companies that offer assistance in filling out, but we do not recommend contacting such organizations for security reasons - to avoid transfer of your personal and other personal data to third parties.

What to do after completing the European protocol?

After the European protocol is drawn up, in 2021 it is transferred by the participant in the incident to the insurance company to calculate compensation for damage. In this situation, it does not matter whether the driver is at fault or not in the accident. This will be important in determining the procedure for collecting funds by the insurer within the framework of the current compulsory motor liability insurance.

If losses are compensated under CASCO, it does not matter whether the driver is at fault for the accident.

Attention

When delivering the notice (together with another package of documents), you must ensure that the insurer’s employee receiving the correspondence informs the participant in the accident the incoming documentation number, details of the opened case, his last name, initials and position, and records when the papers for compensation under compulsory motor liability insurance were received.

There is an option to send the documentation by mail with a return notification, but personal delivery is preferable, since it eliminates various unpleasant accidents.

It must be taken into account that it will be difficult for the motorist to make additional claims regarding the incident after the papers with the description have been submitted. But this does not apply to damage to health. If such circumstances exist, and at the time of drawing up the European protocol, its compiler was not aware of them, a repeated application indicating these points is allowed in 2021.

Reasons for refusal of payments

• more than two participants in an accident;
• There are people injured;
• The culprit has not been identified.
• The protocol was declared invalid:

1. The form is signed by only one participant.
2. At least one of the signatures is missing: signatures are placed twice on the front side of the paper. On the back - once.
3. The information is unreadable. This applies not only to handwriting, but also to defects: drips, stains.

• The MTPL policy is unsuitable: expired, counterfeit or missing.
• The testimonies of the participants differ.
• The person at fault for the accident is not included in the policy.
• Information is incomplete (empty columns).
• The information is incorrect (for example, the wrong number on the license plate). Sometimes the insurance company gives the opportunity to correct the mistake, but it is more profitable for it to invalidate the document.
• Corrections and errors are the most common reason for failure. The reliability of the information and the correctness of its entry are also important. The company may refuse even due to a grammatical, punctuation error, etc.
• Violation of the deadlines for notifying the insurance company and obtaining the necessary documents (insurance companies often take advantage of the fact that people cannot prove the fact of timely contacting the insurance company because they do not have marks of acceptance of documents).
• damage that is not subject to compensation. This category includes moral damage, non-insurable cases (accidents involving a training vehicle, intentional accidents, etc.), situations where damage assessment is impossible.
• did not send the Notification form (Europrotocol) to the insurance company within the deadline (5 days)

What does the European protocol look like in 2021?

The document form is approved by Central Bank Regulation No. 431-P in Appendix 5. The Europrotocol in 2021 consists of two pages. The front side, starting from point 9, bifurcates to allow both drivers to fill out the document separately.

The specified form is issued by insurance companies after the conclusion of the contract. Those interested can download a sample European protocol for 2021 here.

IMPORTANT

The currently valid form should not be confused with the canceled version, previously approved by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This circumstance should be indicated by the inscription at the top right on the initial page of the form.