It won't be enough: victims of road accidents don't have enough limits on CTP

Owners of cars damaged as a result of road accidents, in some cases, no longer have enough current limits on CTP payments for the restoration of their vehicles, according to the Russian Union of Motor Insurers (RSA). The organization made a proposal to significantly increase the currently legally established ceiling of compensation for "avtograzhdanka" both for damaged property and for damage to life and health caused as a result of car accidents. Experts are ambivalent about this initiative. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

Raise the bar

Currently, about 7% of car owners in Russia are faced with a situation where the limit of 400 thousand rubles established by the law "On OSAGO" is not enough to cover the cost of repairing the car. This was announced by Evgeny Ufimtsev, President of the Russian Union of Motor Insurers, during the round table "Prospects for the development of the insurance market" held at the Federation Council. According to him, this is due to the rise in price of the cars themselves and the rising prices of spare parts for them. At the same time, the number of such motorists will only grow, predicts the head of the RSA.

— We see how by the second half of next year, about 10% of losses will exceed this payment of 400 thousand rubles in the amount of repairs, — said Evgeny Ufimtsev.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Anna Selina

The head of the RSA proposed to revise the current CTP limits (400 thousand rubles for property damaged in an accident, including broken cars, and 500 thousand rubles for damage caused to human life and health as a result of an accident), increasing them to 1 million rubles and 2 million rubles, respectively. This needs to be discussed with the Bank of Russia, he said.

The RSA told Izvestia that amendments to the legislation related to the increase in payment limits are not yet being prepared. The issue of their expediency is currently being discussed, the press service of the union clarified. The organization noted that this issue is related to the fact that in other types of compulsory insurance, the limits are higher than in CTP.

— At the same time, it is necessary to realize that an increase in limits will affect insurance premiums to one degree or another. This is an important point, all the pros and cons need to be carefully weighed before making a decision. Perhaps it is worth considering a phased transition to new limits, if this decision is made in principle," the press service of the RSA emphasized.

The engine of regression: they plan to recover CTP damages from those responsible for the accident

Insurance companies will be required to file lawsuits against violators in cases of accidents with aggravating circumstances.

Above the limits, insurance is more expensive

This is not the first initiative of insurers that concerns increasing the maximum amounts of compensation for avtograzhdank established by law. In early February 2022, as part of the announced reform of the CTP system, Igor Yurgens, Yevgeny Ufimtsev's predecessor as head of the RSA, announced the need for similar changes in payment limits.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Konkov

An increase in payment limits will affect the cost of the policy, the RSA recognizes. However, this will have a greater impact on unscrupulous drivers, the head of the union believes.

— Yes, this will lead to a slight increase in the cost of the policy, but still it will be unscrupulous car owners who will pay more, and for bona fide ones the amount of changes will not be very large, - Evgeny Ufimtsev noted in an interview with Izvestia.

A careful approach

Igor Morzharetto, a member of the presidium of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, is convinced that the issue of increasing the maximum limits of CTP payments should be approached very carefully and carefully. The decision about this can be made only after a deep and comprehensive analysis of how it will affect the cost of insurance, he emphasizes. Otherwise, there is a high probability that motorists will simply avoid taking out compulsory insurance, the expert believes.

— Probably, these limits really should be reviewed. But at the same time, it is necessary, on the one hand, to ensure that payments are sufficient to repair the car, and on the other hand, that the cost of the policy does not turn out to be prohibitive. If this is not achieved, the number of motorists who are dissatisfied with avtograzhdanka and, above all, with the amount of compensation, will increase many times," Igor Morzharetto told Izvestia.

Photo: TASS/Alexander Ryumin

The OSAGO system will withstand an increase in the limits of payments for hardware even without an increase in insurance tariffs, said Anton Shaparin, vice president of the National Automobile Union (NAS). She has a huge margin of safety, he notes.

— We see that far from everything that should be paid is being paid for CTP. Much less than 78% of the funds raised from the sale of policies are used to compensate for damage. Therefore, the limit of payments for damaged property without changing insurance rates can be safely increased step by step. For example, in the first year — up to 600 thousand rubles, the next — up to 800 thousand rubles, and so gradually increase it to 1 million rubles. The OSAGO system will absolutely withstand this without any problems," the NAS Vice president is confident.

Carshare test: insurance companies cannot find a policy and refuse to pay

Another drawback of the CTP electronic database has been found

The expert's words are confirmed by the statistics published on the official website of the RSA of funds received by insurance companies during the registration of policies and aimed at compensating victims. So, according to the results of the first nine months of this year, the volume of CTP premiums amounted to 204.3 billion rubles. At the same time, the amount of payments for the same period is 164.4 billion rubles.