Vehicle registration certificate - what is it and what is it for?
PTS allows you to identify a vehicle due to the fact that it contains the unique characteristics of the car - from the VIN number to the year of production from the manufacturer's assembly line, engine properties and body color. When buying a car only with the help of a title, you can make sure that the seller really is the owner of the car, and therefore has the right to dispose of it. PTS is difficult to counterfeit, since it is issued on a special printed form that has different degrees of protection.
For more information about what a car title is, read the article by our specialist.
You will definitely need a PTS when the need arises:
- register or deregister a vehicle;
- obtain insurance (MTPL policy);
- sell, donate a car;
- obtain a re-registration certificate of a car to replace a lost or damaged one.
Is it necessary to provide the title to the insurance company?
Here is the list of documents required for an insurance company after an accident under compulsory motor liability insurance if damage is caused to property:
- A duly certified copy of the identity document of the victim (beneficiary). In Russian: the victim's passport is required. A passport can only be properly certified by a notary or the authority that issued the passport. Sad, what can I say. Therefore, there is an option to bring the original passport to the insurer so that the employee can make a copy of it, or send a letter to the insurance company with an inventory indicating that you are attaching a duly certified copy of the passport to the application for insurance payment. No one will check anything at the post office anyway.
- If an application for an insurance event under compulsory motor liability insurance is submitted to the insurance company not by you, but by a person with a power of attorney from you, then a power of attorney must be attached.
- Attach your bank details to which the insurance payment under MTPL will be transferred.
- If you suddenly want your five-year-old brother to receive the insurance payment, then to do this you will have to contact the guardianship, which will give you a piece of paper with a stamp stating that your young brother can receive the money. But do you need it?
- Popularly, this document is simply called a certificate of accident. It is issued by a traffic police officer (as you like).
- notification of a traffic accident. In Russian: this is the same piece of paper that you and the culprit of the accident, puffing, filled out on the spot in small, trembling handwriting, drew a diagram of the accident and wrote in it a story about who went where and how it happened.
- copies of the protocol on an administrative offence, resolution or ruling on the refusal to initiate proceedings on an administrative offence. In Russian: protocol (preliminary decision of the traffic police), resolution (final decision of the traffic police), determination (issued when there is no fine for violating traffic rules).
- Documents for the property that was damaged in the accident - a car (title, sales contract), house, factory, ship (certificate of ownership) or a general power of attorney to receive insurance payment.
- Damage assessment for an accident from a sane, competent independent expert, and not one who sits in the same building with the insurance company.
- A cash receipt or receipt from the appraiser indicating that you paid him for completing the appraisal.
- A cash receipt with an order or a receipt from a kind tow truck.
- A custody agreement with a parking lot, a cash receipt or a receipt for payment for parking for storage of a damaged vehicle. Storage costs are reimbursed from the date of the accident until the day the insurer conducts an inspection or independent examination (assessment), based on the period specified by the insurer in sending an independent assessment, during which the relevant examination must be carried out.
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Fortunately for insurers and victims under compulsory motor liability insurance, the imagination of insurance companies in inventing the documents required in case of an insured event under compulsory motor liability insurance is limited by the Federal Law and the rules of compulsory motor liability insurance, which are the same for all insurance companies, because they are established by the state.
Is it possible to leave the PTS at home?
The state does not oblige motorists and professional drivers to carry their vehicle with them. Do you want to store it in a bank safe or in your apartment? Please. The inspector does not have the right to demand your PTS for inspection, but if suddenly such a situation arises, it is necessary, in defending your rights, to refer to the provisions of the traffic rules, according to which the car passport is not one of the documents that must be presented for inspection.
Is the driver required to present insurance to the traffic police inspector?
That is, the answer to the question of whether the driver of the vehicle is obliged to present an insurance policy to the traffic police inspector is unambiguous. Yes, I must. Moreover, the policy must not be expired, and the person specified in it must be driving.
Stopping a car by a traffic police officer always raises some concerns even among car owners who have all their documentation in perfect order. But if the provision of a driver’s license and documents on the ownership of the car does not raise any questions for anyone, then whether to present insurance or not is a controversial issue for many. Let's try to figure it out.
Operating a car if the title is not issued
But the absence of a title basically makes the car’s operation unacceptable. Without a title, it is impossible to register a car, and if you get behind the wheel of a vehicle that is not properly registered with the State Traffic Inspectorate, you will be fined.
The minimum fine is 500 rubles, the maximum is 800 rubles, but if the driver commits the same offense again, the sanctions will be much more serious: he will be fined 5,000 rubles or even deprived of his driver’s license for three months.
The driver nevertheless handed over the PTS, but was not included in it
If the driver, in order to confirm the legality of using the vehicle (or driving without an MTPL policy), voluntarily handed over his PTS to the traffic police officer, then the latter, when checking the document, will definitely pay attention to the absence of a record of the new owner. Actually, this is why he checks this document.
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Here, depending on the situation:
- The employee will require that the new owner be entered into the title and indicate the date of sale (transfer) of the car.
- The employee will consider the purchase and sale agreement to be fictitious and will draw up a resolution in the case of an administrative offense.
In the latter case, all that remains is to appeal such a decision within the period established by law (10 days). To do this, you will need to attach evidence to the complaint - copies of the PTS and DCP.
Is it possible to drive a car if the title is lost? And how to restore it?
The loss of a car’s passport does not deprive its owner of the right to drive it and does not entail negative consequences, since there are no fines or other types of administrative liability for loss or damage to the vehicle title.
However, if you have lost your title, do not hesitate to obtain a duplicate of it, because you will definitely need it to obtain insurance, sell a car, or, for example, to obtain a duplicate of the vehicle registration certificate.
You can learn more about restoring a car’s title in the article by our lawyer.
For a duplicate vehicle passport in 2021, you must pay a state fee, the amount of which is 800 rubles.
FAQ
How to find out who issued the PTS?
This is indicated in paragraphs 23 (name of organization) and 24 (address of organization) of the PTS.
How to find out the date of issue of PTS?
It is written at the very bottom, paragraph 25.
How many records about owners can be entered into the PTS?
Modern PTS allows you to enter information about only 6 owners. Then the PTS must be replaced.
How to spot a fake?
PTS have several degrees of protection. You can look at the document against the light: the watermarks will be visible. PTS forms have a specific pattern of lines. On the back of the document there is a three-dimensional design that can be touched, reminiscent of the design on banknotes.
What is included in the PTS?
The PTS states:
- passport series and number, by whom and when issued;
- vehicle brand, category;
- Vehicle VIN;
- color, body type, number of seats;
- environmental class of the car;
- manufacturer country;
- engine, frame, body number;
- engine displacement and power in kilowatts and horsepower;
- information about sellers and owners;
- information about customs;
- notes on registration and deregistration;
- information about the issuance of duplicates;
- information about restrictions.
Is it necessary to make design changes to the PTS?
It is imperative to include in the PTS all significant changes in the design, for example, a change in color. It is advisable to make any changes to the PTS, for example, installation of guardrails, tow bars, or non-standard optics. Of course, during roadside checks this is at the discretion of the inspector, but there have been cases where a car was towed due to an unregistered tow bar.
Do I need to take my PTS with me?
No. It is enough to carry the STS with you, including those with special marks. The law does not require you to carry your vehicle with you.
If the vehicle is pledged to the bank and the title remains with them, is it possible to correct the duplicate?
Absolutely forbidden. This may be considered an attempt at fraud, and there may be problems with the bank.
What documents do you need to take with you?
The documents that the driver needs to take with him on the road can be divided into two groups: general and special. Using simple examples, let's look at what documents a driver should have with him.
If you use the car for personal needs, then do not forget to take your passport and driver’s license (in some cases it is replaced by a driving permit), as well as a civil liability insurance policy issued by an insurance company and a registration certificate for the car on every trip. All these documents are included in the general group.
Are you a taxi driver? In this case, in addition to the above documents, you must have permission to transport passengers and luggage, a correctly completed waybill, and a license card. Are you involved in cargo transportation by road? Then you will need to take documents for the cargo you are transporting. Is the driver on disability and has a special sign installed on his car? Take with you a disabled person’s ID and, of course, the documents required for absolutely all drivers: passport, ID, vehicle registration certificate and insurance policy.
It is unacceptable to use either simple copies or copies certified by a notary instead of originals.
Documents for the driver
Nevertheless, every modern driver must have a certain package of documents with him. Otherwise, he will face one punishment or another. It is directly dependent on the forgotten document.
What should every driver have? What documents do you need to take with you? These include:
- driver's license;
- car registration certificate;
- OSAGO policy;
- passport.
It is prohibited to drive without these documents. But the list of required documents does not end there. In exceptional cases, you have to take additional certificates and extracts with you.
