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- Welcome to complain: the number of driver claims against insurers has increased in the Russian Federation
Welcome to complain: the number of driver claims against insurers has increased in the Russian Federation
Russian motorists are increasingly complaining to insurers about CTP. In the first half of the year, the number of such claims filed by drivers with the financial Ombudsman increased by almost 20%. Izvestia found out what does not suit car owners in CTP.
Repairs raise questions
According to the results of the first half of the year, out of 101,219 complaints received from citizens to the Financial Commissioner's office, 78,859 (77.9%) related to the activities of insurance companies. Such data is published on the official website of the department. At the same time, the vast majority of complaints against insurers (69,692 applications) are related to disputes under CTP contracts. Compared to the first six months of last year, the number of such requests to a finombudsman increased by 18.6%.
"The main topic of such disputes is still the failure of insurers to fulfill their obligations to organize car repairs under the CTP agreement," the press service of the financial commissioner said.
First of all, we are talking about insurance companies' refusals to reimburse losses from road accidents in kind (issuing directions to a car repair service for a damaged car), as well as non-compliance with the statutory deadlines for such repairs (no more than 30 days).
Problems with compensation for CTP in kind are also recognized in the Russian Union of Motor Insurers (RSA). According to the organization's estimates, at the moment the share of this form of compensation is only 5-6%. Insurance claims are mostly settled in cash, which often does not meet the interests of car owners, the Union told Izvestia.
The RSA notes that geopolitical and economic factors affect logistical processes and affect the operation of automotive engineering stations, which need to order spare parts and components for repairs. Since the delivery time of some spare parts can reach several months, this affects the willingness of stations to undertake car repair obligations under the CTP, the organization explains.
Against this background, the repair time can be changed only by agreement with the victim, which is not always possible. In addition, not all victims agree to repairs using used spare parts, despite the fact that there are quite a lot of cars in the Russian fleet that are basically impossible to repair with new parts: right-hand drive, models older than 20 years, exotic brands for our country. All this also reduces the number of possible CTP repairs, the Union explains.
— The legislation does not oblige service stations to conclude contracts with insurers or accept cars for repair in the direction. The technical center may refuse to conclude such an agreement with the insurance company. As a result, the insurer, which has no leverage, finds itself in a situation where it cannot fulfill its obligations to the client — in fact, it is unable to send the victim for repairs. This all creates, among other things, legal uncertainty, as a result of which the number of disputes may increase," the press service of the RSA told Izvestia.
The Union believes that it is necessary to accelerate work on legislative changes. The insurance community is constantly forming proposals to amend the legislation on CTP, which are aimed both at improving the system of compensation for victims, including the use of in-kind, and at combating unscrupulous intermediaries who help collect payments on CTP in excess of the established limit, the organization emphasized.
Extend deadlines
The difficulties associated with the organization of rehabilitation repairs under the CTP are largely due to objective reasons, according to Igor Morzharetto, an auto expert and partner at the Autostat analytical agency. The sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation and the complex geopolitical situation in the world, primarily in the Middle East, have a serious impact on logistics chains and, consequently, on the timing and cost of delivery of car repair parts, he emphasizes.
"Neither the car repair service nor the insurer will simply be able to meet the 30—day deadline set by law for repairing a damaged CTP car if the spare part ordered for it only arrives in Russia during this time," the expert noted.
The adoption of the law, which increases to 45 days the time allotted for car repairs within the framework of Avtograzhdanka, will somewhat improve the situation with in-kind compensation and reduce the number of related claims, Igor Morzharetto believes. However, he will not radically change the situation — in the current conditions, logistical difficulties will not allow us to fully resolve the issues of fast delivery of spare parts, he added.
Methodology issues
Anton Shaparin, Vice President of the National Automobile Union (NAS), is convinced that the problems with CTP repairs are mostly related not to logistical difficulties, but to inadequate insurance prices for spare parts and the cost of work according to the price guides on the basis of which damage is calculated. Technical centers are forced to order parts at these prices, which do not take into account the delivery time of the part, he emphasizes.
— Conventionally, a part with a delivery date in two months costs 100 rubles, but for 150 rubles it will be delivered in a week. The price guides list exactly 100 rubles, so car service stations have to order a part for this price and wait for it to arrive. At the same time, spare parts, for example, for Russian or official Chinese models, in no way depend on logistics chains — they are either manufactured in our country or available in importers' warehouses. However, since official insurance prices for them are significantly lower than market prices, tech centers also fail to purchase them for the amount allocated as part of the damage calculation," Anton Shaparin told Izvestia.
In his opinion, it is possible to resolve the issue of in-kind compensation for CTP by radically revising the methodology for calculating the amount of damage, as well as the cost of work and the spare parts themselves in the price guides.
The share of compensation for avtograzhdanka announced by the RSA in the form of a referral for repairs at the level of 5-6% indicates that this form of compensation for CTP has actually turned into fiction, according to Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine.
— It turns out a strange situation: there are no spare parts at the service station until exactly the moment when the driver comes with a "cutlet" of money in his hands. There are also the necessary spare parts and parts, and quickly enough. Another thing is that this "cutlet" is often significantly thicker than the one that the CTP insurer paid. In the end, let the insurance company look for the necessary spare parts together with the service station for the amount calculated as part of the compensation. Unable to arrange repairs? So, pay the owner of the car the necessary amount after he repairs it himself," Maxim Kadakov told Izvestia.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
