No driver is insured against an accident, including the fault of another road user. To resolve such situations in a civilized manner, a mechanism for compulsory driver civil liability insurance has been developed. Compulsory motor liability insurance provides for compensation for damages to the insurance company of the person responsible for the accident. However, it happens that the culprit of an accident disappears from the scene.
In most cases, in such a situation, it is also possible to obtain compensation for damages under compulsory motor liability insurance. However, it is very important to act correctly and avoid mistakes that will not only ruin the possibility of payment, but can also become a source of serious problems.
The driver fled the scene of the accident - what will happen next?
Next will be an administrative investigation. Until its end, you will not be able to apply under compulsory motor liability insurance to your insurance company or the culprit, since for this you will not have a full set of documents provided for by the legislation of 2021.
The duration of the investigation is:
- 2 months with the possibility of extension by decision of the traffic police officer - if the accident with the escaped second participant falls under an administrative case (no injuries or deaths),
- up to 1 year – if the culprit fled the scene of the incident with injuries and/or deaths.
Only after the expiration of the specified periods will you be able to receive a resolution or determination from the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate - documents that are mandatory when submitting an application for payment under compulsory motor liability insurance, in accordance with clause 3.10 of the Insurance Rules.
Based on the results of the investigation, you will know what to do next:
- you will understand after reading the article whether compensation will be paid under compulsory motor liability insurance with another participant who left the scene of the accident,
- or you will have to file a civil claim directly against the person causing the harm.
The ability to receive payment if the culprit fled the scene of an accident depends on a small number of factors:
- whether the getaway driver has been found or is unknown,
- whether the vehicle of the departing participant has been identified,
- Does this car have a valid MTPL policy?
- are there any casualties in the incident?
So, let's look at all the cases of compulsory motor liability insurance - when it is possible and when it is impossible to apply for compensation from the insurance company, what to do to increase the chances of payment or repair.
First steps
If an unpleasant accident occurs with a car in the yard of a house, it is important to figure out what steps those involved in the accident will immediately take. Since this determines how the dispute regarding compensation for damage caused and punishment of the perpetrator will be resolved in the future. Regardless of whether a major or minor accident occurred in the yard of the house, the following measures should be taken:
- stop the car, turn on the hazard lights and put up an accident sign;
- provide assistance to the injured and call doctors;
- clear the roadway without interfering with other traffic participants, but ensure the safety of objects involved in the accident;
- collect information from eyewitnesses;
- take a photograph of the accident scene.
Then you should call the police, wait for a diagram of the accident in the yard to be drawn up and the associated documents to be completed.
When is it impossible to receive compensation under compulsory motor liability insurance for an absconded person?
Automobile liability insurance specifically covers liability. This means that the victim receives compensation for damage from the insurance of the culprit. And if the culprit is not identified, then the payment will no longer be received? Not at all!
In fact, despite the seeming logic that if there is no culprit, there is no compensation under compulsory motor liability insurance, there are very few situations where the culprit has disappeared, it is impossible to receive payment.
And such cases include:
- the culprit of the accident has not been found, nor has the vehicle that caused the collision been identified, and there were no injuries or deaths,
- the second participant does not have MTPL insurance at all (the MTPL agreement has not been concluded, if the culprit is simply not included in the policy, then you will be paid compensation) - regardless of whether he was found or not,
- Based on the results of the investigation, the second driver turned out to be completely innocent in the accident - he did not violate traffic rules.
This is an exhaustive list of conditions under which you will have to apply for compensation directly to the person causing the harm, and the insurance company will not help here. And in the latter case, there is nothing to count on at all if you do not have Casco insurance.
How to qualify
Often the driver leaves the appointed place because he does not consider the incident in the parking lot to be an accident. Let's see if he's right. In order to understand how to qualify the situation, you need to understand the circumstances of what happened. If more than one vehicle is involved in the incident and there is material damage, then this is an accident.
On a note!
Parking is one of the roadside areas where incidents are classified as emergency situations if certain signs are present: movement, traffic violations, damage, multiple participants.
The culprit disappeared - when can I get paid?
Now let's look at the most important thing - when you can receive compensation under compulsory motor liability insurance if the culprit fled the scene of the accident.
And there are several such cases at once, and an application for compensation can be made to 2 different organizations at once, both of which are related to insurance in one way or another.
So, you will be paid (other things being equal, of course) compensation:
- if the driver who fled the scene of the accident is found, identified, and has a valid MTPL policy,
- when the car of the departing second participant is identified (by license plate number),
- if there were casualties in the accident,
- You have a Casco agreement.
Don't believe me? Let's support the above situations with links to official laws and judicial practice!
If you have Casco
This is the most obvious way to get compensation from your insurance. But OSAGO has nothing to do with it at all.
Under Casco agreements, it is not the liability of other participants in case of accidents that is insured, but specifically the property – your car. Therefore, it will not be difficult for you to receive compensation in the form specified in the contract.
How to get a?
In some cases, you will still have to wait for the documents that will be issued by the traffic police - a resolution on the fugitive culprit or a ruling to terminate the investigation. The obligatory nature of one of these papers is provided for in most Casco conditions.
But there is good news - many insurance companies will meet you halfway and repair your car or pay you money based on the available documents.
Thus, in an accident with absconding participants, an administrative investigation is almost always ordered, and an appropriate ruling is issued, a copy of which is given to the victim. This definition, when contacting an insurance organization, can confirm the very existence of an insured event.
But please note that if the culprit is not found, then Casco insurance will become more expensive for you in the next period, as a claim will be registered.
If the driver is found
Everything here is also quite simple. If the culprit of the accident fled the scene of the accident, and was then found and confessed to it, then you can safely apply for payment. And here it is important to comply with only 2 conditions:
- the hiding driver has a valid MTPL policy (we found out how to check it in a special article about this),
- he was indeed recognized as the culprit of the collision.
What will happen to the culprit?
When the culprit is found, 2 punishments must be imposed on him at once:
- the main one is a traffic violation that caused the accident (if there is no punishment for any violation, then a ruling is made to refuse to initiate a case - for example, for driving in reverse),
- for hiding from the scene of an incident, the culprit will be deprived of his rights under Part 2 of Article 12.27 of the Administrative Code.
But the most important thing is that for leaving the scene of an accident, the cunning motorist will also receive a recourse from the insurance company for the amount of payment made to you, according to paragraphs. “g” of paragraph 1 of Article 14 of the Federal Law on Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance.
How to get a?
You need to take a copy of the resolution or determination of the culprit that caused the accident (for example, violation of clause 10.1 of the traffic rules) and attach it along with other documents to the application for compensation.
As a result of the review, you will be paid money or your car will be repaired and they have no right to refuse.
Is a car collision in a backyard considered a traffic accident?
Statistical surveys say that most motorists cannot clearly answer the question: is a car collision in the yard a full-fledged traffic accident?
According to the traffic rules, an accident, like a traffic accident, can occur on the road and in the area adjacent to it. In fact, the yard is the adjacent territory.
Therefore, a collision of two or more cars in a yard is a full-fledged accident. This means that the road traffic accident must be documented in accordance with this fact.
If there are victims in an accident
Let's move on to the most unexpected conclusions for most car enthusiasts.
If there are people injured or killed in the accident, then you are obliged to pay... Even if the culprit disappeared and has not been identified... And even if he is found, but does not have compulsory motor insurance!
How is this possible? It's all about the same Federal Law on Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance (FZ-40), which has a special article 18, which talks about certain compensation payments. These are the kind of compensations that, instead of insurance ones, are made by the Russian Union of Auto Insurers.
In particular, paragraph 1 of this rule of law, after changes several years ago, states the following:
1. Compensation payment for compensation for harm caused to the life or health of the victim is carried out in cases where insurance compensation under compulsory insurance cannot be made due to:
- c) the unknown person responsible for the harm caused to the victim;
- d) the absence of a compulsory insurance contract under which the civil liability of the person causing the harm is insured, due to his failure to fulfill the insurance obligation established by this Federal Law.
But please note that the right to compensation payment arises only for injured persons and only in relation to damage to health. If you are a driver, but were not injured in an accident, and only your passenger was injured, as well as the car itself, then only the passenger will receive compensation.
How to get a?
A person who has suffered harm in terms of health must collect all documents about treatment, as well as papers about an accident from the traffic police and contact the RSA.
If there is no RSA representative office in your region, then you can send documents by mail. Based on the results of consideration of the application, RSA will forward it to any insurance company for reimbursement.
If there is a license plate number of the car that hit
This is a slightly confusing situation in 2021 legislation, but it can be resolved in favor of the victim. You can receive a payment if the second participant fled the scene of the accident, but the license plate number of his car is known, or if the driver himself fled, leaving the car in place, and here’s why!
The object of insurance under compulsory motor liability insurance is the risk of liability for damage in an accident. If the culprit fled the scene of the incident, then the insured event has occurred, but the causer of the harm has not been identified.
But do we really need it? Not at all! The law stipulates that the owner of the car may be liable for insurance if the same causer of harm is not identified.
Article 6 of the Federal Law-40 in its paragraph 2 indicates what is not an insurance risk. So, there is a different car than the insured one, damage caused by the cargo, and others. But this article does not include a situation where the harm-doer fled the scene of the accident.
At the same time, OSAGO insures the owner’s liability when using a specific vehicle. And this means that even if it was not the owner who was driving, but another driver who left the scene of the accident and was recognized as the culprit, then this is an insured event under the same compulsory motor liability insurance, and the insurer cannot be released from compensation for damage in such a situation.
This is precisely the opinion held by judicial practice as represented by the Supreme Court, which confirms the obligation of insurance companies to pay damages caused by an absconding participant in Resolution of the Plenum No. 2 of 01/29/2015:
45. Under a compulsory insurance contract, the insured is the risk of civil liability when operating a specific vehicle, therefore, if an insured event occurs either as a result of the actions of the insured or as a result of the actions of another person using the vehicle, the insurer is not exempt from paying insurance compensation (preamble, paragraph 2 of Article 6 and subparagraphs “c” and “e” of paragraph 1 of Article 14 of the Law on Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance).
If there is an accident with a pedestrian
In addition, compensation under such conditions looks even simpler if we are talking about an accident with a pedestrian, where the driver of the car fled the place where he hit the first one.
In this case, the car is a source of increased danger, and Article 1079 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation applies here. It says that the owner of the IPO is obliged to compensate the victim for the harm caused by his exploitation, regardless of whether he was guilty of this harm. And, since the owner’s liability is insured, compulsory motor liability insurance will reimburse for it.
If you hit a parked car in the yard
In this case, the rules for receiving payment are identical. It just makes it a little more difficult to find the culprit of the accident, since you probably were not in your stationary car at the time of the impact and only witnesses and eyewitnesses of the incident, as well as external surveillance cameras, can help.
If you can find the car involved in the damage and show it to the traffic police officers who opened the case, then there should be no problems with compensation for damage under OSAGO - you also fill out an application for payment and submit it to the insurance company.
How to respond to an incident
Regardless of whether the collision occurred in a parking lot, road, or yard, leaving the scene of an accident means breaking the law. So, if trouble occurs in the parking lot, you need to remain calm and adhere to the standard pattern of behavior.
Procedure:
- Stop the vehicle and turn off the engine.
- Activation of an alarm signal.
- Placing a special sign.
- Drawing up the Europrotocol (if there are no disagreements).
- Call the traffic police.
If someone is injured in a hit-and-run, the first step is to help the victim. When the called ambulance does not arrive, you need to transport the patient yourself. In this case, leaving the scene of the accident may be qualified as justified if the culprit eventually returns.
If there was no participant in the road accident at the scene
In a situation where the participants cannot cope with the emergency consequences themselves, the culprit is not there, you need to call the inspection staff. They will draw up a protocol and also perform the necessary actions related to identification. If the offender can be identified, he is put on the wanted list.
On a note!
Recordings from CCTV cameras + eyewitness testimony help traffic police inspectors establish the identity of the rule violator and bring him to justice.
Can I contact my insurance company?
It’s not just possible, but necessary. All of the above cases, when the culprit of an accident escaped from it, are the same with regard to the procedure for applying for compensation, and the general procedure depends on other conditions.
So, you are obliged to contact only your insurance company for direct compensation of losses (PVU is not the right to choose the victim, but an established procedure if appropriate conditions exist):
- at least 2 cars were involved in the accident (even if there are 3 or more cars, and 2 or more drivers who escaped),
- damage was caused only to vehicles,
- Everyone has MTPL insurance.
