A traffic accident is an extremely unpleasant situation that, unfortunately, virtually every third driver faces. In order to make the painful procedure of registering an accident with an insurance company a little easier, you must have a package of certain documents with you. One of the documents that may be included in such a package is a vehicle diagnostic card. What kind of document is this? Is it necessary to always carry it with you? What are the consequences of not having a diagnostic card in case of an accident? The answer to these and other basic questions related to this topic can be found below.
What is a diagnostic card?
In essence, a diagnostic card is a document that is now issued in addition to a technical inspection coupon and is a kind of permission for the driver and his vehicle on the road. The diagnostic card is a document in A4 format, which can be printed either on plain paper or with the use of certain security marks. The card form contains a table with information on the results of checking all units, spare parts and components of the vehicle. When conducting a technical inspection (diagnosis of the technical condition of the car and spare parts), and determining the results of the inspection, data on the successful completion or failure of the technical inspection is entered. The following information must also be entered into the diagnostic card:
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- a list of checked components, assemblies, spare parts of the machine and the result of the check;
- information about the owner of the vehicle;
- general information about the car. Category, car number, make, color, model, body type, etc.;
- information about the registration certificate, namely the number, series, date and name of the office that issued this document for the car;
- basic technical information about the vehicle. This includes mileage, tire condition and brand, gearbox type, brake system type;
- date of the next technical inspection of the car;
- mark on registration of the vehicle in the traffic police;
- seal.
Upon successful completion of the check, one copy of the actual document is given to the driver, and the second remains at the place where the vehicle was checked. Also, an electronic copy of the document remains in the unified technical inspection information system.
Application for technical inspection and compulsory motor liability insurance
If you do not have a diagnostic card, then our company will ensure prompt technical inspection at an accredited technical inspection service center. What does the diagnostic card provide:
- 1) Possibility of issuing an MTPL policy for a vehicle
- 2) Confirmation of compliance of your vehicle with road safety requirements (The unique registration number is in the EAISTO register)
- 3)Storing data on your car in electronic form (The electronic version is stored in the EAISTO database for at least 5 years)
Do you need a diagnostic card in case of an accident?
Starting from August 2015, a technical inspection coupon is not accepted for issuing compulsory motor vehicle insurance; a diagnostic card is used instead. In other cases, the diagnostic card is not a mandatory document. When checking, the inspector only needs to present the MTPL insurance policy. The only exception is when it comes to vehicles carrying passengers or dangerous goods. The law also does not provide for the mandatory presence of a diagnostic card in case of a traffic accident.
How to apply for compulsory motor liability insurance without a diagnostic card
There are many methods for obtaining a policy without having to take your car for inspection. Each of them has certain disadvantages. Most of these methods are carried out via the Internet. However, do not forget that you may encounter scammers who will take money but issue a fake policy.
Purchase e-OSAGO without technical inspection
To obtain a policy, you need to find one of the online services created by insurance intermediaries. On such sites, all information is entered electronically. Some structures turn a blind eye to the lack of diagnostic card data.
This method is the most risky, since there is always the possibility of sending money and not receiving the policy. Often, drivers who have used this method, having an accident, discover that the document issued to them is fake. The company where the insurance was taken out does not exist.
Insurance for 20 days without technical inspection
Transit insurance is a legal option to obtain a policy without a technical inspection. It is provided for cases when a recently purchased car needs to be transported to a region where it will subsequently undergo technical inspection, or to the place of registration.
Previously, in such cases, the owner had to pay for a tow truck and use it to transport the car to the desired location. Now this process has been greatly simplified. The insurance company issues a temporary policy, which is valid for only 20 days from the date of issue.
The cost of such a contract is about 20% of the full annual insurance. Subsequently, when registering a car, you will need a full-fledged policy issued for 12 months. Transit insurance will not help you get rid of the need to undergo a technical inspection for a long time. Eventually you will have to get a diagnostic card.
Formal maintenance
If you make an effort, in any city you can find not very responsible employees of the station conducting technical inspections. For a certain surcharge, such an expert will not notice obvious defects in the car.
By contacting such “specialists”, you can obtain a diagnostic card necessary for issuing a policy. If this method is chosen, it would be a good idea to make sure that the employee who was paid for violating the inspection rules entered data about the procedure into a single database.
Sometimes the driver is simply given a paper version of the diagnostic card, without recording the fact of passing the technical inspection in the system. It will not be possible to apply for compulsory motor liability insurance with such a card.
In the process of concluding a contract, insurance employees check information about the maintenance of each car at EAISTO.
Fake diagnostic card
The most dangerous way to obtain a policy. In such conditions, the car owner must find a not too scrupulous station employee who will agree to issue a diagnostic card for money without inspecting the car.
Moreover, the document itself is symbolic in nature. Data about the car is not entered into a unified system, and the technical inspection is not recorded anywhere. To issue a policy using such a document, the driver has two ways.
- You can find a manager at an insurance company who will agree to violate job descriptions and enter into an agreement without checking the diagnostic card data in a unified system.
- Take advantage of those selling outright fake policies. There are not many such companies, but they still exist in almost every city.
If the appearance of the “document” is close to the original, then it can be used for demonstration to traffic police officers.
You can also not issue a new policy, but renew your existing one (before it expires). In this option, the diagnostic card will not be checked. The information from the previous contract will simply be transferred to the policy.
What are the consequences of not having a card in case of a traffic accident?
To pay insurance, after registering an accident, the insurance agent may require a diagnostic card to confirm the condition of the car. Taking into account the fact that the policyholder bears full responsibility for the condition of the car. In the absence of a diagnostic card in case of a traffic accident, confirming the serviceability of the car, problems may arise with insurance payment.
Having a document confirming the serviceability of the car in case of an accident is essentially not a prerequisite for paying out insurance. But, without having a diagnostic card for a road accident, the car owner must be aware that paying for damages may fall entirely on his shoulders.
Lack of DC in case of an accident
A completed technical inspection guarantees the safe operation of the equipment. Therefore, if the card is expired, you should contact the company that provides this service again for verification. In this case, the driver will receive full compensation in the event of an accident, since the rules established by law will be observed. The DK is not included in the list of documents that every driver must have while driving, unless the equipment belongs to one of the following categories:
- Passenger transportation or taxi.
- Buses and minibuses.
- Trucks equipped with seats for the permanent transport of people.
- Special vehicles used to transport hazardous or toxic liquids.
According to the established rules of OSAGO, the owners of such equipment are required to update the diagnostic card every six months, otherwise in case of an accident they will be subject to, in addition to the main liability, a fine of 800 rubles. It is not necessary to obtain a certificate of approval for a new vehicle if it is not yet 3 years old.
No DC with valid insurance
It is impossible to insure liability without undergoing a vehicle inspection procedure. But there are situations when a policy is issued legally without it. Then, if there is no diagnostic card during an accident, there will be no consequences. Insurance without DC remains relevant in the following cases:
- The vehicle is still new, less than 3 years have passed since the start of operation (production).
- The car is not used to transport passengers along a given route or as a taxi.
- The technique is freed from the need for regular examination.
- The accident involved a trailer weighing up to 3 tons, which was registered by an ordinary citizen.
It is important to know! In such cases, there are no problems with payment from the insurance operator. But the type of policy issued (MTPL, CASCO) and those specified in the agreement are taken into account.
When insurance doesn't apply
Having a diagnostic card in case of an accident does not matter if you have insurance, but only if it has not expired. In this case, the injured party will receive compensation.
But if the policy is not valid, then the company has the right to demand compensation for the payment made to the culprit by filing a lawsuit against him. But in most cases, if the insurance contract has expired and the client has not applied for its renewal, the company simply refuses to provide payments.
Accident with an expired diagnostic card
If the validity period of the diagnostic card has expired, but the period of validity of the compulsory motor liability insurance has not yet expired, no penalties can be applied to the motorist in case of an accident. Regarding insurance payments, an expired document is a reason for non-payment. If the validity period of the MTPL has expired, then the insurance will not be paid.
Validity period for a diagnostic card in case of an accident:
- not required for vehicles less than three years old;
- if the vehicle is from three to seven years old - two years;
- if the car is seven years old or older, the document is valid for one year;
- For vehicles that regularly transport cargo or passengers, a technical inspection is required once every six months.
That is, in the event of a traffic accident, the validity period of the diagnostic card, even if compulsory motor liability insurance is in effect, can play a very important role and give insurers a reason for non-payment of insurance compensation.
What if the period expires after purchasing the policy?
The validity of the diagnostic card does not affect the validity of the insurance policy - the law on compulsory motor liability insurance does not provide for such a link. This means that the insurance will be valid regardless of how long ago the driver passed the technical inspection. Moreover, an expired card will not affect compensation under compulsory motor liability insurance.
If the driver injured in an accident does not have a valid diagnostic card at the time of the collision, this cannot be considered a reason for non-payment of insurance or restoration of the car. An exhaustive list of documents that a driver needs to obtain insurance is determined by clause 3.10 of the OSAGO Rules, and today there is no diagnostic card among them.
But for the culprit of the accident the situation is not so rosy. For him, MTPL insurance without a technical inspection will also work; the insurer will not refuse to cover the damage caused to all victims.
But the expiration of the diagnostic card at the time of the collision will become the basis for the recovery of all insurance amounts from the culprit of the accident by way of recourse (clause “I”, paragraph 1, article 14 of Federal Law No. 40) under 2 conditions:
- if the accident with an expired technical inspection occurred after March 1, 2021,
- if the cause of the accident was a malfunction of the culprit's vehicle.
The fact is that appropriate changes are being made to the legislation on compulsory motor liability insurance. If before this date, recourse for completed maintenance was applied only to taxis and buses, then from March 2021 - also in cases where the collision was caused by a breakdown of the car.
1. The right of claim of the victim against the person who caused the harm is transferred to the insurer who has provided the insurance compensation in the amount of the insurance compensation provided to the victim, if:
i) at the time of the insured event that occurred as a result of a vehicle malfunction, the validity period of the diagnostic card has expired.
And if the culprit does not return the money to the insurance company voluntarily, they will be forced to recover it through the court.
However, there are other reasons why you should no longer drive with an expired diagnostic card.
Payments under OSAGO
The diagnostic card is not a mandatory document to present to the insurer. Only the person responsible for the accident can request a document confirming the technical serviceability of the car. In turn, in the absence of a diagnostic card, or its expiration date, he will be presented with a recourse claim, to satisfy which the driver of the car who is the culprit must reimburse the insurer for the costs of paying insurance to the victims. A similar measure applies to car owners who undergo maintenance once every six months. That is, if the vehicle is used for regular transportation of people or goods.
In addition, the insurance company can also demand compensation for payments to victims of an accident from the maintenance operator. This situation is possible if the diagnostic card for a road accident indicates that there are no faults in the vehicle, but in fact the car involved in the road accident had technical problems. In this case, the responsibility lies with the person who signed the diagnostic card, namely the operator who checked the vehicle.
The absence of a diagnostic card in case of a traffic accident is not a legal basis for refusal to compensate for damages. However, there may still be consequences for the vehicle owner. To begin with, it is worth understanding that without a diagnostic card based on the accident, the driver will not be able to prove that his car was in good working order at the time of the accident. This fact, in turn, is a strong enough argument for recognizing this car owner as the culprit of the incident. In addition, issuing compulsory motor liability insurance without a document confirming the technical serviceability of the car is illegal. Even if the driver decides to sue the insurance company that refused compensation for the damage, the outcome for him will be far from rosy. In fact, the most likely situation will unfold like this:
- the contract between the car owner and the insurer will be recognized as valid and compensation will still be paid. But, since the driver will most likely be found guilty, the insurance company will be able to demand compensation for material payments;
- the court generally recognizes the contract as invalid, since it was drawn up in clear violation of the law. In this case, responsibility for the accident, and accordingly the financial obligation, falls entirely on the plaintiff.
Features of the procedure
To understand what a diagnostic card is and in what situations it will definitely be needed, it is necessary to consider the nuances of this phenomenon.
First of all, you should determine which vehicle and how often should undergo technical inspection, what to do if there is no diagnostic card or an accident occurs with an expired document of this kind.
In addition, you should consider whether insurance payments will be made if the diagnostic card suddenly expires, or whether this will be an official and legal reason to refuse payment.
Recommended inspection frequency
Considering that regarding the technical inspection of a car, there are certain recommendations on how often a technical inspection should be carried out.
It should be remembered that if a person has just bought a car, then he may not carry out maintenance for it during the first three years, but then it will need to be completed in full.
After all, the mechanisms of an unused vehicle are minimally susceptible to breakdowns, which means that the authorities do not take any risks by allowing it to go out on the road without a full inspection of its technical condition and all transport links.
For cars that are older than three years, a certain inspection frequency applies, and it matters for what purpose the vehicle is used.
Therefore, the following scheme is formed according to which all cars should be examined:
| Age 3-7 years | Every two years |
| From seven years old | Annually |
| Vehicles used for transporting passengers with more than 8 seats and trucks transporting dangerous goods | Semiannually |
Also, vehicles equipped with special signals must undergo an annual inspection procedure.
Do you need a diagnostic card if you have car insurance, see the article: Do you need a diagnostic card if you have an MTPL policy? The cost of a diagnostic card in Moscow in 2021, read here.
This will ensure that in an emergency they can call for reinforcements and it is possible that someone's life will be saved because of this.
Do you need a diagnostic card in case of an accident if you have insurance?
If a driver is involved in an accident, many say that he should have not only insurance, but also a diagnostic card.
In fact, this is not the case, and the driver may not have the document itself. After all, he had already provided it to the insurance company when concluding the contract.
A company employee takes out insurance on the basis of a valid maintenance, after which, when an insured event occurs, the validity of the maintenance is simply checked using the unified EAISTO database, to which any insurance company has access.
Therefore, the driver does not have to worry about having a diagnostic card with him even in the event of an accident, since this is not a prerequisite.
In any case, the inspection is carried out according to the insurance policy, and if the inspection is overdue, then the insurance may not even be paid, since the car was obviously defective, and in some cases, drivers with an expired or missing inspection are even found guilty, which of course complicates the process of obtaining insurance.
Categories of vehicles requiring maintenance
A technical inspection is necessary for absolutely all vehicles, including:
- motorcycles and other motor vehicles;
- trailers and semi-trailers;
- trucks;
- transport intended for passenger transportation;
- cars;
- machines that transport dangerous goods.
The timing is approximately the same, but the examination process differs in the mechanism and cost of the procedure. But the same document is issued, and even contains the same information.
True, there is one nuance that indicates that you do not have to enter information that is not provided for in the technical plan.
For example, if some components are not in the car, if they were not structurally provided for in it.
What are the consequences of her absence?
The law establishes that the driver does not have to carry a diagnostic card with him, so in a normal situation this would not even be a reason for a fine.
By the way, even in the event of an accident, they will not be able to issue a fine for the absence of a diagnostic card, and if it is in the database, then there cannot be any problems, but if it is expired or the policy was purchased without it at all, then the maximum that they can do is not pay the insured amount, referring to the legislation of the country.
But if the driver does not have insurance, regardless of whether it was not obtained at all, was forgotten at home or expired, in any case a fine of a maximum of 800 rubles will be issued.
Accident with an expired document
If an accident happened with an expired diagnostic card, then you should understand whether it became expired after purchasing the policy or whether it was so before.
At the same time, the driver must understand whether the insurer can bring a recourse claim against the car owner, that is, demand reimbursement of the funds that were paid by the company as the insurance amount.
But in general, there will be no special problems for an accident with an expired document, unless, of course, certain conditions are met.
Video: is a car inspection required in Russia?
Payments under OSAGO
Payments under MTPL will be made as required, even if the driver’s diagnostic card is expired, but this is done in most cases.
A recourse claim can be brought only when the MOT was not passed by vehicles that require special control, that is, these are cars intended for transporting people, which are taxis and minibuses.
After all, the law states that an expired diagnostic card cannot be a reason for demanding compensation for insurance payments for those cars that undergo maintenance on a regular schedule.
Lack of diagnostic card and CASCO insurance payments
From the above, it can be understood that the absence of a diagnostic card in case of an accident, and subsequently insurance payments, can lead to the fact that the insurance company simply refuses to reimburse any funds for car repairs. However, this depends on the insurer who issued the CASCO insurance. It is worth re-reading the contract carefully, and if a conflict arises with the insurance company, point out that there is no clause about the need for diagnostic testing in the event of an accident. If the CASCO agreement stipulates that having a diagnostic card is mandatory, then most likely you will be left with nothing.
Is CASCO insurance valid?
In addition to the mandatory receipt of compulsory motor liability insurance, the car owner can take advantage of voluntary insurance - CASCO. A CASCO car policy is different in that it protects the interests of the car owner in any case.
The cost of a CASCO policy is much higher than that of compulsory MTPL insurance, but CASCO also protects against a wider range of possible incidents. The owner himself chooses for which points he wants to insure the vehicle.
CASCO protects the car from the following situations:
- hijacking;
- damage to the car due to natural disasters, accidents, and other cases.
The policy does not work if at the time of the accident the driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, the accident or other actions were committed intentionally, and the localization of the incident was outside the borders of the Russian Federation.
It is worth reading the completed CASCO agreement carefully. Because the insurance company may refuse to pay if the driver committed a serious violation of traffic rules, which resulted in a large-scale accident. Moreover, if the owner does not have a valid diagnostic card with him, then it is very difficult to prove that the cause of the accident was not a malfunction of the vehicle. Therefore, the company may not compensate him for the damage.
Additional Information
Insurance organizations are attentive to the distribution of funds for CASCO payments as a result of an accident. They very often delay the transfer of compensation, coordinate and check the facts. For your own peace of mind, it is better to have valid technical inspection documents in hand. This will help speed up the insurance payment process.
Peculiarities
So, what should a driver know about the diagnostic card?
- The DC is a document issued by the maintenance operator at inspection points based on the results of a complete check of the vehicle.
- DK essentially gives the owner the right to use this car in areas of heavy traffic.
- An MTPL policy can only be issued upon presentation of a diagnostic card, otherwise the contract with the insurance company may be declared invalid.
- When changing the owner of a vehicle (sale, transfer to a third party, etc.), re-issuance of the diagnostic card is not necessary and amendments are not made to it until the expiration date.
- The card is not a document required to be presented to the traffic police inspector.
- In the event of a traffic accident, it is not necessary to have a vehicle diagnostic card. However, the owner of the car may be found to be at fault for the accident, since there is no confirmation of the car’s serviceability.
- The CD has its own specific expiration date and is a sufficient basis for issuing compulsory motor liability insurance before its expiration.
For what purpose is a diagnostic card drawn up?
A diagnostic card (DC) is an official document confirming the technical examination of a machine through visual inspection and the use of various specific procedures. It contains information about the general condition of the equipment and readiness for its safe use. At one time, the DC became a replacement for the standard maintenance coupon, and today it is even issued in electronic format. It has a validity period indicated on the form. Receive a document to confirm good condition.
Information on the preparation and issuance of the card is provided in 2 copies, and the data is entered into a common database. The system is automated, information is stored in it for 5 years. The DC is required at the time of signing the MTPL agreement. Without it, the insurance is valid for only 20 days. During this period, you will be required to undergo a technical inspection and submit paperwork to the company for the issuance of a full-fledged document.
