Cases of insurers going to court for damages have become more frequent. By demanding recourse under compulsory motor liability insurance from the culprit of the accident, they try to cover their losses associated with the payment of insurance to the injured person.

According to the law, insurance companies do have the right to receive compensation for their expenses, but only under certain conditions.

What is regression?

A special mechanism for reverse compensation of losses is provided for by current legislation for civil law relations in which a third party appears (Article 1081 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). It is she who is always the initiator of regression. In relation to the relationship between the insurer, the client and the victim, the following grounds will serve as the basis for bringing forward recourse claims:

1. According to the civil code, the obligation to compensate for damage caused as a result of an accident rests with the person responsible for the accident.
2. According to the law “On compulsory motor third party liability insurance” The insurance company bears the obligation to compensate for damage instead of the culprit.
3. The same law stipulates cases in which the insurer has the right to return the money spent by filing in court the opposite, i.e., a recourse claim against its client. This mechanism can be applied only in a limited number of cases - all of them are prescribed in Article 14 of the law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance”. These situations are in one way or another connected with a violation of the terms of the insurance contract or with a gross violation of traffic rules.

Recourse is the right of the insurer to recover the amount of money spent on the victim of an accident from the client if he was the culprit of the accident and violated the insurance rules or traffic rules. Cases when this is possible are given in the law.

Grounds for recourse under compulsory motor liability insurance from the culprit of an accident

The insurance company's recourse against the culprit of the accident under the MTPL policy is possible after the insurer, having paid compensation to the victim for damage, discovered serious violations of the rules on the part of its client, the culprit of the accident. These include:

1. Being in a state of alcohol or other intoxication, including a state of “impaired attention”, which is observed under the influence of drugs or psychotropic drugs.
2. Driving without a driver's license (I just didn't have it with me). Also driving without the right to get behind the wheel or drive this vehicle. This includes cases, for example, when the driver is not included in the compulsory motor liability insurance policy or gets behind the wheel when the license has expired, or at a time not specified in the insurance policy - this is relevant in the case of compulsory motor liability insurance for a specific period.
3. Maintenance was not completed on time - this is important for owners of trucks and vehicles intended for transporting passengers.
4. The culprit left or tried to leave the crime scene.
5. If the accident was deliberately provoked or there was “malicious intent” - a desire to cause harm to the victim.

All of the listed grounds for the occurrence of recourse under compulsory motor liability insurance are legal; only in these cases the rights of the insurer to collect compensation from the culprit can be exercised. But only on condition that there is strong evidence of violation of the rules on the part of the client. For example, if we are talking about alcohol intoxication, there must be documentary evidence of this. There cannot be any other reasons for demanding compensation from the culprit, since they are not spelled out in Art. 14 Federal Law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance”.

Judicial practice

As judicial practice shows, demands for reimbursement of expenses are not always put forward by the insurer on legal grounds. And although everyone is equal in the courtroom and each party, including the defendant, has the right to protect their interests, the latter does not always manage to defend his interests.

Most often, to protect their clients, auto lawyers use defense tactics in court by challenging guilt. In most road accidents, both parties involved in the accident can actually be considered to blame. If payments cannot be avoided completely, defense attorneys move on to another plan and try to reduce the amount of compensation. As practice shows, in 9 cases out of 10 this tactic gives results.

How does collection occur?

The recourse procedure is prescribed in Rules of compulsory insurance (Article 76). This legal mechanism can only take place under strictly defined conditions, namely:

1. A claim for compensation for losses can only be made after the losses have been incurred. That is, after the insurance company has paid the victim in an accident a certain amount to compensate for the damage caused as a result of the accident.
2. A claim can only be made against the person at fault for the accident, and, as is known, a person can only be named guilty by a court. A protocol on an administrative violation is not enough.
3. The claim can be made within 3 years - this is the statute of limitations and its calculation begins from the date of the accident. Keep documents about the accident so that you can confirm in court that the statute of limitations has passed.
4. The insurer is obliged to try to resolve the issue pre-trial - issue an invoice to its client and only in the event of a direct refusal to pay the invoice, go to court with a recourse claim.
5. The amount of recourse must match the costs incurred by the insurance company to pay for the damage caused to the injured client by the insurer.
6. The applicant is obliged to prove the fairness of his claims, that is, to prove the fact of violation of the rules by his client and to justify every penny calculated as compensation for losses incurred.

A recourse claim cannot be brought against all clients of the insurer without exception, otherwise the meaning of concluding insurance contracts is simply lost. Collection by way of recourse is possible only in cases where the client has violated the terms of the contract. This means that the insurance company may not fulfill its obligations under the contract, and if it has fulfilled, it may recover the funds spent.

Is recourse possible under a CASCO policy?

CASCO is insurance not for liability to victims, but for property. When an insured event occurs, the insurance company makes payments to its client so that he can restore his car. Recourse in the case of CASCO is presented to the insurance company of the culprit. If the accident occurred through the fault of the client himself, but he did not violate the terms of the insurance contract, there are no grounds for filing recourse claims.

If the culprit turns out to be another participant in the accident (the owner of the MTPL policy), then he can receive a subpoena for a recourse claim, both from his own MTPL insurer and from a third-party company in which the victim took out CASCO insurance. This is possible if any of those listed in Art. 14 situations.

What to do when making a claim from an insurance company

If, some time after the accident, the insurance company has made recourse claims against you, you should under no circumstances ignore them. If you fail to appear in court, the decision will be made in absentia, i.e., with satisfaction of all requirements. The more responsible you are in resolving the issue, the less losses you will get out of the situation.

1. Check whether the statute of limitations has been met and whether the insurer has the right to make this claim.
2. Make sure that the demands are made on legal grounds, that is, they fall under the cases described in Art. 14 of the Law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance”.
3. Calculate yourself, based on the available documents, the amount calculated by the insurance company that they are trying to collect from you. Even if you are at fault for the accident and for improperly complying with insurance and traffic rules, there is still a chance to reduce the amount of the claim.

The price of the claim must correspond to the amount of actual payment made to the victim in the accident. In case of doubt, the person responsible for the accident has the right to try to challenge the calculated amount. The insurer can recover funds only in the amount of actual damage caused to the victim, for example, the amount necessary to completely restore the damaged car. Check the insurance claim report, the vehicle inspection report, and the calculation of the cost of damage. Refer to the “Unified Calculation Standard”, in force since December 1, 2014 - in it you can find uniform prices for parts, the cost of hours of repair work, developed by the Russian Union of Insurers. Contact the injured party and find out, if possible, exactly how much money the insurance company transferred. It is not uncommon for companies to pay the minimum, but try to recover the maximum from the culprit.

In most cases, it is possible to prove the inconsistency of claims either only based on the documents provided, or by requesting an appropriate examination or by interviewing the injured party.

Involving an experienced lawyer in your case will help you win the case or get out of the situation with minimal losses. The specialist will check all the applicant’s arguments and will definitely find a “hole” in them, if there is one. And if not, he will insist on conducting examinations and collect other necessary evidence.

If, nevertheless, the court rules not in your favor, remember, you have the right to apply for an installment plan through the court, especially if we are talking about considerable amounts, in order to pay money monthly, retaining at least 50% of your income.

How not to pay

You can avoid payments only by following all insurance and traffic rules. If the case goes to court, it will be possible to avoid liability if the plaintiff misses the statute of limitations or does not have enough evidence. The latter is unlikely, because insurers carefully prepare for litigation (the company always has a lawyer or even a whole team of lawyers on staff). How to avoid the consequences?

In order not to pay recourse to you, you will need an equally qualified specialist who will conduct a full legal examination of the evidence presented by the insurer. If the evidence is insufficient, the lawyer will be able to protect you from payments or at least part of them. After carefully studying the case, the lawyer will choose the only possible defense tactic - challenging guilt. Sometimes it is actually possible to prove that the insurance client is not the culprit of the accident (even if he was previously recognized as such).

Can an insurance company recover money from the person at fault for an accident? Maybe, but remember that the applicant must have compelling reasons for this. Reimbursement of expenses is allowed only in certain cases established by law. As practice shows, the defendant, even in this case, is able to protect his rights and, if not prove his innocence, then at least reduce the cost of the recourse claim.

The MTPL insurer is obliged to compensate the injured party for the damage caused by its client. In this case, we are talking not only about material damage to the car or structures that were damaged due to the fault of the insured person.

In addition, he will need to compensate for the damage caused to the health and life of people - that is, the costs of treatment or burial. In most cases, after payment, the insurance company will demand recourse under compulsory motor liability insurance from the person at fault for the accident.

This process must take place in court, so it requires the intervention of a lawyer. If you correctly analyze the position of the plaintiff and thereby find inconsistencies in the legal structure, then recourse can be avoided.

The insurance company's right of recourse is a guarantee of the safety of its funds. Most often, such a right arises as a result of an accident.

Some car owners insured under MTPL mistakenly believe that even if they are the culprits of the accident, the insurance company will pay for the damage to the victim. Of course, the insurer will pay this money, but he will definitely turn to the person at fault for reimbursement of his funds.

In this case, it does not matter at all whether he has a compulsory motor liability insurance policy or not, since in this case he must be punished for violating traffic rules.

In 2020, the amount of insurance coverage is: for property damage - 400,000 rubles, for damage to health or life - 500,000 rubles. If there is no money, you can collect the debt in parts through the court.

In order to exercise its right to reimbursement of funds spent, the insurance company is obliged to:

• the injured party must pay the full amount of damage, taking into account the demand, documents about the road accident and the assessment;
• file a claim with the court to recover the money spent from the culprit of the accident.

These are the main conditions for filing recourse from the insurance company against the culprit of the accident under compulsory motor liability insurance, which must be complied with.

If the decision was made in the presence of the culprit, then how can one not pay recourse under OSAGO, how can one challenge it? If the person at fault for the accident does not agree with the amount charged by the insurance company, then he has the right to file a counterclaim.

Fortunately, in most cases it is possible to obtain a reduction in the amount to be paid based on the results of a forensic examination or by proving the insufficiency of the insurer's claims.

In addition to the paid cost of insurance compensation, the insurance company can receive from the person responsible for the accident the funds spent on:

• conducting insurance business;
• carrying out examinations.

Judicial practice shows that in most cases, insurance companies write an application to obtain the amount of insurance compensation forcibly.

When receiving an MTPL policy, you must carefully study the section that discusses the emergence of the insurer’s recourse rights.

In what cases can an insurance company issue recourse under compulsory motor liability insurance? The insurance company has the right to reimburse the culprit for the amount of expenses in the following cases:

Thus, there can be grounds for recourse under compulsory motor liability insurance only in case of illegal actions of the culprit, but not in case of unintentional and accidental causes of an accident.

What are the legal options to avoid paying recourse to the insurance company? Let's consider the list of rules that every driver who has taken out a compulsory motor liability insurance policy must follow in order to protect himself from unnecessary payments:

By following the above rules, you will reliably protect yourself from recourse from your insurance company.

Recourse claims have their own statute of limitations. If the property was insured, the insurance company can claim the right of recourse within 2 years.

When insuring a person’s life and health, the limitation period for recourse to compulsory motor liability insurance is no more than 3 years.

Based on this, if, after determining the culprit of the accident, the insurance company did not demand recourse within the above deadlines, then this means that it missed this right. However, if there are compelling reasons, the insurer can restore this right through the court.

Since insurance companies are commercial structures, they also strive to earn income at all stages of their work - both during the sale of insurance to the client, and at the stages of collection under compulsory motor liability insurance by way of recourse.

The good news is that the court often takes the side of the defendant in these cases, if his position is supported by arguments that the payment of damages is disproportionate.

Video: Recourse claim from an insurance company. Which side are you on: plaintiff or defendant?

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13 comments

This article completely ignored the fact that the culprit of the accident, in the event of filling out documents about a traffic accident without the participation of authorized police officers, did not send to the insurer that insured his civil liability a copy of the notification form for a traffic accident completed together with the victim in within five working days from the date of the traffic accident. After which the insurance company has the right to file a recourse claim against the culprit of the accident!!!

• On May 1, changes to Article 14 of the Federal Law on Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance came into force, paragraph G was canceled and lost force. It is not in the law at all. So there is no need to send anything to the insurer within 5 working days.

  I agree. For some reason, many are silent about this. Now the company has hastily filed a recourse for me. So what kind of recourse is this? If I was sober, had no restrictions, did not run away from the scene of the accident. And if I had or had not filed a notification with the Investigative Committee, then how could this affect the payment to the victim? What kind of idiocy is this next? When will you all get FUCKED and burp from excess?

What is recourse under compulsory motor liability insurance from the culprit of an accident, judicial practice, and what is the statute of limitations? The MTPL insurance company is obliged to compensate the person who suffered in a road accident for damage caused by its client. This is not only property damage to a car or structures that were deformed due to the fault of the insured person. In addition, it is necessary to compensate for the harm that was caused to the health and life of a person, i.e. expenses for treatment or funeral.

Most often, after payment, the insurance company issues a recourse claim against the culprit of the accident. This procedure is carried out in court, which requires the assistance of a qualified lawyer. By carefully examining the plaintiff's claims, it is possible to find flaws in the legislation and prevent regression.

Recourse is a claim that the insurance company makes against the person at fault in the event of a traffic accident. Does the insurance company collect compensation from the person at fault for the accident under compulsory motor liability insurance? Example: according to insurance proceedings, an accident occurred on the highway, which resulted in damage to the car in the amount of fifty thousand rubles, at the same time the culprit’s insurance company paid the entire amount in full, it has the right to demand payment of this amount from the culprit. This right is given to the company by current legislation.

The company can demand payment of the amount of compensation paid to it only by filing a corresponding statement of claim with the judicial authorities. These are the main conditions for recourse that must be met.

The laws of the Russian Federation control the procedure and conditions of recourse (identical rules apply in the European protocol).

Certain requirements are contained in laws such as:

• Civil Code of Russia;
• Federal Law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance”.

These laws regulate the scope of legal relations between the insurance organization and the citizen. However, in addition to this, there are special clauses in the insurance agreement; they are drawn up by insurers with the owners of the vehicle.

A recourse claim may also be made against the organization that carried out the technical inspection of the insured vehicle before drawing up the diagnostic card, which is the main document for drawing up the insurance agreement.

The organization issuing the MTPL policy can request a refund of the damage paid under the contract from the company only if the defects that were present on the car and were a factor in the road accident were not identified. In this situation, the availability of the necessary expert opinion is mandatory, since it is used in judicial proceedings.

Does the insurance company have the right, subject to all conditions, to recover money from the person at fault for the accident? It can bring recourse not only to the owner of the vehicle found guilty of an accident on the road.

The requirement to return funds to the insurance company is a guarantee of their preservation. It usually appears as a result of an accident. Many drivers who have a motor vehicle license ignorantly assume that if they are found to be the guilty party in an incident, then the insurance company will still pay compensation to the injured person.

Undoubtedly, she will pay the money, but, of course, she will turn to the culprit to get it back. And here it does not matter whether the vehicle license is issued or not, because then he must be punished for failure to comply with traffic rules.

In 2018, the amount of insurance compensation is:

• for damage caused to property – 400,000 rubles;
• if damage to health is caused - 500,000 rubles.

If there is no money, then collection of the debt in shares is formalized, this is done only through judicial proceedings.

To exercise its right to compensation for money spent, an organization must:

1. The person recognized as the victim must pay for the damage in full, taking into account the demand, documentation of the accident and the assessment of experts.
2. File a claim with the judicial authorities for the return of the money spent from the culprit.

These are the main conditions for recourse from the insurance company in the event of an accident to the culprit of the accident under compulsory motor liability insurance; they are mandatory. It needs to be said that the guilty person does not need to miss these trials. If it is not there, then the decision to reimburse the entire amount for the insured event will be made in absentia; most often, the amount of compensation may be inflated several times.

If the decision is made in the presence of the guilty person, then how can one not pay for the recourse under the motor vehicle license, how can it be challenged? If the owner of the car, found to be at fault in the incident, does not agree with the amount of recourse, then he can file a counterclaim (a sample of such a statement can be found on the Internet).

In addition to the paid cost of insurance compensation, the organization has the right to recover from the defendant in the claim the money spent on:

• insurance case proceedings;
• organization of examination.

Court practice suggests that most often companies applying for compulsory motor liability insurance file a claim for the return of the amount spent on compensating for losses. Such situations most often arise in the relationship between the policyholder and the Rosgosstrakh company.

However, to the delight of drivers, it must be said that it is usually possible to obtain a reduction in the amount of payments, referring to the conclusions of an examination carried out by a court decision or by proving the groundlessness of the insurer’s claims.

The guilty person should not skip court proceedings on a regressive claim. If the driver does not attend the trials, then a decision to reimburse the amount of compensation in full will be made in absentia.

Most often, the insurer overestimates the amount of money paid, and the person responsible for the accident then directly in the legal process has the right to express his disagreement with these requirements of the insurance company.

When is regression presented?

You need to know that the insurance organization does not always have the right to make a recourse claim against the guilty party.

Russian legislation specifically indicates all cases when a company issuing compulsory motor liability insurance is vested with such a right (not to be confused with a CASCO policy).

Specifically, an organization concluding an agreement on compulsory motor liability insurance can file a recourse against the culprit in the following situations:

1. If there was intent. For example, if he was specifically involved in a traffic accident. The insurer may then request a refund of the insurance coverage amount.
2. In certain situations, the actions of the guilty person may have specific signs of other violations of the law. For example, if the driver deliberately crashed the victim’s car, then it is necessary to initiate a case for damage to property of citizens.
3. The driver consumed alcohol or drugs while driving. Undoubtedly, this must be confirmed by the conclusion of a medical commission.
4. The citizen who committed the accident did not have the right to drive a vehicle. The regulations state that a driver's license is valid for ten years. The deadline has expired, but the person has not changed his license, then the insurance company gets the opportunity to file a recourse.
5. The person who caused the accident is not indicated in the motor vehicle document as the driver of the vehicle. When drawing up an insurance agreement, the vehicle owner indicates a list of persons entitled to operate the vehicle.
6. The incident occurred at a time when the vehicle could not be used. A citizen can indicate the period during which vehicles will be used for movement. For example, it is possible to formalize an agreement, determining that the transport will be used only in the summer, and traveling on it during other periods is a violation of the law. In case of an accident in winter, the insurance organization has the right to return the insurance amount paid to it.
7. The driver who caused the incident left the scene of the accident. Citizens involved in the incident are required to stop driving and follow certain instructions that are needed to report the accident.
8. Recourse from the insurance company for failure to provide notice. According to the current laws of the Russian Federation, the driver is obliged to report an accident to his company that entered into an agreement on compulsory motor liability insurance and provide all documentation within five days from the date of the event, otherwise he will have to pay money to compensate for the damage himself.
9. The driver, found to be the culprit of the event on the road, began restoring the car without the permission of the organization that entered into a car license with him. This requirement is valid for fifteen days from the date of the accident. An identical situation arises if the driver refuses to undergo a vehicle examination.
10. The diagnostic card was expired at the time of the accident.

These are the main situations, the presence of which gives the right to the company issuing compulsory motor liability insurance to present a refund of the money spent to the person responsible for the accident.

Are there legal ways to avoid paying the insurance company's recourse?

There is a list of rules that any driver who has a policy to protect against unnecessary expenses must follow:

1. A disciplined driver greatly reduces the likelihood that he will cause an accident. Therefore, in order to prevent the occurrence of regression, he must observe road accidents and be careful, since the road does not forgive mistakes.
2. It is necessary to follow the terms in the car insurance policy. There are citizens who, for various reasons, pay for insurance for less than 360 days; you need to remember this and pay the missing amount in a timely manner.
3. The truck must have a valid inspection certificate. The driver himself must control this.
4. In any policy, the driver of the car must be indicated in the columns of the form. It is necessary to personally check that the full name is written in the document to which the driver is assigned.
5. A person does not drive his own car, then he must always have a power of attorney from the owner in his full name.
6. If an accident occurs while driving, you must not leave this place, as this will be regarded as an attempt to avoid punishment.
7. You cannot conceal from a company concluding an MTPL agreement with a citizen various information related to the accident. You cannot restore the car without the permission of the insurer.

Subject to the above rules, a person reliably protects himself from a recourse claim from the insurer who issued the MTPL.

The legislation specifies the statute of limitations for filing a recourse claim. In the event that payments for property damage are affected, the insurance company may issue a claim for refund within 24 months. If the case involves compensation for personal injury, the statute of limitations is thirty-six months.

If the insurance company does not submit a recourse claim to its policyholder within the specified time frame, it means that it has lost this right. However, if there are serious reasons, then this right can be returned to the insurer in court proceedings.

Insurance companies operate on a commercial basis, because of this they try to make a profit at each stage of their own activities: both during the period of issuing a motor vehicle liability policy and during the recourse for a motor vehicle liability policy. However, courts in these proceedings usually take the position of the citizen, in particular if he supports his arguments with significant evidence.

In numerous situations, after payment, the insurer requires the citizen who was found guilty of an accident to return the money. This procedure takes place in court and most often in such proceedings the assistance of a professional in legal matters is required. With the right approach, the driver can avoid the recourse requirement for compulsory civil liability insurance.