Registration of an accident with the traffic police: procedure, deadlines and necessary documents

Publication date: 03/04/2019 Number of views: 5699

Author: Ermakov Andrey Valerievich Lawyer, partner of the Legal Agency of St. Petersburg Articles written: 20

The situation when an insurance company files a lawsuit against the culprit of an accident in order to recover material damage based on the compensation paid to the injured party is becoming more and more common every year. If previously relatively little-known organizations that had close ties with collection agencies committed similar sins, today you can get a claim for subrogation or recourse from almost any insurance company. Recently, there has been increased activity on the part of the insurance company, which is trying to compensate for its losses under CASCO or OSAGO contracts by filing lawsuits against those responsible for the accident. There is a trend: if the accident occurred in 2015 or 2021 (the statute of limitations is about to expire), and the amount of paid material damage exceeds 100-120 thousand rubles, you can expect a quick summons from the court. There are many explanations for this: the unstable economic situation in the country, a sharply increased number of vehicles, competition in the market, tightening legislation in the field of insurance companies. In order to somehow preserve their assets and not become bankrupt, they are forced to resort to subrogation and recourse claims. What to do if the insurance company sues the person responsible for the accident, what is the difference between recourse and subrogation, is it possible to reduce the amount of payments for a lawsuit and how to protect your property rights? Answers to these and related questions are provided by professional lawyers in the field of insurance law and civil law.

When is legal action necessary against the culprit of an accident?

It's no secret that after an accident, an insurance company compensates for damage only within the insured amount. In order to fully compensate for the damage caused from the culprit of the accident, the victim has the right to go to court with a demand to recover, in addition to the insurance amount, the actual amount of damage.

The need to recover damages from the culprit of an accident arises when:

the person at fault left the scene of the accident
the person at fault for the accident did not have title documents for the vehicle
the accident that occurred goes beyond the scope of insurance cases in which monetary compensation was provided under compulsory motor liability insurance
the injured person wishes to exercise the right to recover compensation for moral damage from the culprit
the calculation of the amount of damage was greater than the permissible limits of motor third party liability under compulsory motor liability insurance (400,000 for payments to the victim in connection with damage to property and 500,000 for payments to the victim in connection with damage to life and health, also 25 thousand for payments for funeral expenses)
There is no insurance contract . Not all drivers insure their civil liability against damage and drive without “insurance”. And some manage to issue a compulsory motor liability insurance policy in the “gateway”, that is, to purchase a compulsory motor liability insurance policy from unscrupulous sellers, that is, a fake one. Then the insurance company refuses to pay
recovery of wear and tear from the culprit of the accident. Under compulsory motor liability insurance, a citizen will receive insurance compensation taking into account the wear and tear of the parts being replaced. He may be paid a small amount if the car is “old”. Therefore, the injured party has the right to appeal directly to the tortfeasor with a demand for recovery of the difference.

Recovery without taking into account wear and tear from the culprit

Very often, the cost of repairs turns out to be significantly more than what the insurer paid. This happens if the car was badly damaged in an accident, or the car is of great value.

Then the injured party has the right to demand compensation for damage from the culprit of the accident that exceeds the limit provided for by the insurer’s liability without taking into account wear and tear of parts. That is, a citizen injured in an accident can receive from the insurance company the cost of restoration repairs, taking into account wear and tear of parts, and the citizen can receive all other damage from the party at fault in the accident.

Lawyers call this the difference between the insurance payment and the actual damage. In this case, the victim must prove that the amount of his damage is actually greater than the amount received from the insurance company. The proof is, as a rule, a well-executed examination, or checks and receipts for payment for parts and work. If the person at fault for the accident refuses to voluntarily pay for the damage, you can safely go to court.

USEFUL : read the full procedure for compensation for damage after an accident at the link

Procedure for registration of the Europrotocol

In essence, the Europrotocol is understood as the procedure for participants in a car accident, which is subject to the simultaneous occurrence of all the conditions of the Europrotocol, to fill out an Accident Notification form without the involvement of traffic police officers.
The insurance company issues the document form to drivers free of charge along with the MTPL policy. First you need to make sure that the other participant in the road accident has all the necessary documents. Ask him to show you his driver's license and OSAGO insurance policy. Make sure that both documents are not expired. Next, check whether this driver is included in the insurance.

Just in case, take a photo of his documents on your mobile phone. Give him the opportunity to do the same manipulations with your documents.

Before starting to fill out the Notice, motorists need to verbally discuss all the details of the traffic accident and find out if there are any disagreements. If the drivers do not come to a consensus on at least one circumstance of the accident, then there is no point in filling out the document. You need to go to the nearest traffic police post and file a car accident there.

But before that, be sure to photograph the scene of the incident from different angles, so that the collision site is clearly visible and the license plates of both cars, as well as the road infrastructure, are included in the frame. It is important to take photographs of every vehicle damage. More video shooting is needed. A mobile phone camera is suitable for this.

You also need to obtain contact and personal information of witnesses to the incident. Within 5 working days, each participant in a car accident takes to their insurance company the completed part of the Notification of an Accident form and an electronic medium with information containing photos and videos from the scene of the accident.

The injured driver writes a statement for direct compensation for losses, as well as a statement that the photo and video material was not corrected.

Do I need to file a claim with the person at fault for the accident?

The mandatory nature of compliance with the pre-trial procedure for filing a claim with the person responsible for the accident is not provided for by law; therefore, this document is an option for agreeing on compromises and concessions to resolve the dispute before trial.

The injured person, when resolving the issue of compensation for harm as a result of an accident, can resort to drawing up a claim against the culprit in order to agree on compensation for (material, moral) damage on a voluntary basis, which can subsequently be settled by concluding an agreement between the participants in the accident or a receipt from the culprit .

There are often situations when the culprit voluntarily refuses to pay for the damage caused, then by filing a claim it is necessary to induce this, and also to show the seriousness of intentions to go to court if the requirements specified in the claim are not met.

USEFUL : order a claim from our lawyer, watch a video with tips on drawing up a procedural document for the second driver

Actions of the culprit under CASCO

When the car is insured under CASCO, it does not matter who is at fault for the accident. The insurance company will compensate for the damage with money or issue a referral for car repair. The main thing is to collect the necessary documents and submit your application on time (text “Submit an application - link to an article with a sample application”).

In order to receive an insurance payment under CASCO, you need to prepare the following package of documents:

Vehicle registration certificate;
Insurance policy;
Receipt confirming payment of the premium;
Driver's license of the participant in the accident;
Certificates from the traffic police.

The last point is optional. The need to provide certificates about the accident depends on the insurance program, which you can find out from an employee of the insurance company. You can contact him at the number indicated in the policy.

The cost of insurance next year depends on whether the policyholder is the culprit of the accident or the victim. When the driver is not at fault for the accident, the insurer can receive the money he spent on repairs from the company at fault. Therefore, under such circumstances, insurance often remains at the same price.

If the driver is at fault, the costs fall entirely on the insurer, which is why the insurance premium when extending CASCO insurance increases significantly.

How to file a claim against the person responsible for an accident?

To draw up a statement of claim, the law does not establish an official template; it is important to be guided by the norms of the Civil Procedure Code of the Russian Federation; also, claims must be stated taking into account the following basic principles:

Briefness of the content set out in the claims . Circumstances must be contained only relevant to the subject of the statement of claim.
Content validity . Claims must have rules of substantive and procedural law that also relate to the substantiation of the stated circumstances
Content formatting . The text format must be set uniform throughout the entire text, with the most commonly used sizes - 14 point, spacing - 1.5

The statement of claim for compensation for damage caused by an accident by its nature contains the following information:

name of the court to which the claim is filed
Full name, telephone number, e-mail for communication between the Plaintiff and the Defendant
the circumstances of the dispute as a result of which the right was violated, resulting in harm to health or death
motivation of the requirements - what is the basis for the person who received harm as a result of an accident and why
pleading part - what measures, in the opinion of the injured person, should be
a list of documents necessary to substantiate the circumstances referred to by the Plaintiff
when the statement of claim was drawn up (date) and the sender’s signature

USEFUL : more advice from a lawyer on filing a claim in court in the next video

The procedure for collecting wear and tear from the culprit of an accident

Recovery of wear and tear from the culprit of an accident consists of the following actions:

correct registration of an accident in accordance with the European Protocol or calling the traffic police officers if the damage caused exceeded the limit established by motor vehicle liability
contacting the insurance company (the insurance company of the culprit) to receive insurance payment for damage caused as a result of an accident
drawing up a claim against the person at fault, indicating in the attachments copies of documents confirming the fact of the accident, as a result of which handing it over to the other party with signature and stamp on your copy
If there are no answers to your demands, file a claim in court

What should the culprit do in case of an accident?

When an accident occurs, it is important for the culprit not to panic and not to leave the scene of the accident in order to try to avoid responsibility; this most likely will not work, and more troubles will arise. Nowadays, with the development of technology, finding a driver by car number is not difficult. Therefore, it is extremely important to know how to act after an accident under compulsory motor liability insurance if the driver is the culprit of the accident. Correct behavior in such cases helps to minimize possible negative consequences. In general, the algorithm for the actions of the culprit after a car accident under compulsory motor liability insurance is extremely simple:

Call the traffic police. If the accident is minor and there are no disagreements between the participants, it is possible to reach an agreement without involving third parties and draw up a Europrotocol. If not only the car, but also another person was injured, first of all you need to call an ambulance.

You cannot move the vehicle to another location or move its parts. Emergency signs must be posted on roads. However, if there are no casualties or critical damage to the vehicles, the vehicle must be removed from the roadway after recording all the details on the accident diagram.
It is necessary to take video or photograph of the scene of the incident - this is done in the presence of the victim. The video recording or photographs should show the position of the vehicles after the collision, their damage and other details characterizing the accident. The victim’s car is carefully inspected, all damage is necessarily photographed in order to avoid further disagreements regarding compensation for damage.
It is necessary to record the personal and contact information of all participants in the accident and witnesses.
Insurance information should be exchanged with the victim. Contacts of insurance companies are transmitted; if there is a CASCO policy, its number is also recorded.
It is necessary to issue a notification of an accident; all participants in the incident must sign it.
You need to find out when a decision on an accident will be made; if this is done by a police officer on the spot, read it carefully. When the culprit does not agree with some facts when registering an accident, he makes an entry about this in the protocol, after which he can challenge the conclusion of the accident within 10 days.
At the end of the procedure, obtain and check the correctness of the documents regarding the accident: a certificate of the accident, a protocol and a resolution on an administrative offense.
Notify your insurer.

According to Article 11, 11.1 of the law on compulsory motor liability insurance, when drawing up the Europrotocol, both parties need to send their copy of the document to the insurance company. Duration – 5 days. Then the insurers must receive a request to send the vehicles for inspection (this is given 5 days from the date of receipt of the letter).

A European protocol can only be issued in case of a minor accident if the following conditions are met:

there are no victims or injured;
the amount of property damage does not exceed 100 thousand rubles;
there are only two participants in the accident, and each of them has a valid MTPL policy;
no other property damage was caused other than damage to the vehicle;
the parties have no disagreement regarding the incident.

The document is filled out with a simple pen on both sides; the circumstances of the accident must be stated in a concise and clear form.

Recovery of the difference from the culprit of a traffic accident

When collecting the difference between the insurance payment and the actual damage caused as a result of an accident, it is necessary to file a claim with the court at the place of residence of the Defendant, depending on the presented price of the claim:

Not exceeding 50 (fifty) thousand rubles, then the case has jurisdiction to be heard in the magistrate’s court
Exceeding 50 (fifty) thousand rubles, then the case has jurisdiction to be heard in the district court

In addition to compensation for material damage, the victim also has the right to recover compensation for moral damage and lost earnings. This category implies an evaluation criterion that is established by the court taking into account all the evidence provided.

Basic actions in case of an accident

The main feature of an accident is its suddenness. Therefore, the algorithm of actions in this situation must be thought out in advance. Then, in the first minutes after the accident, the driver will make fewer mistakes, and accordingly, if his guilt is proven, the consequences will not be so dire.

Most vehicle drivers make a common mistake - they start to find out who is to blame and who is owed how much. As a result: the wheel tracks of the vehicle are trampled; bloodless injuries to passengers, such as a concussion or severe fright, are somehow overlooked, and this is also harmful to health; Witnesses to the incident, as a rule, run away within a few minutes, and who will give evidence to the traffic police?

To minimize the negative consequences of an accident, it is advisable to adhere to the following sequence of actions:

Stop the vehicle.
Assess the degree of harm to the passengers of your car.
Find out the condition of the hit pedestrian or the crew of another vehicle.
Try to hold at least one witness until the traffic police officers appear. In practice, this action is the most difficult.
Calling traffic police officers and an insurance company agent to the scene of the accident to confirm the existence of an insured event and determine the extent of damage in an accident.

Under no circumstances should you run away or leave the scene of the incident! In case of the most unfavorable consequences - death, the maximum penalty is 5 years of imprisonment in a penal colony, since a road traffic accident is an act committed due to negligence.

Unauthorized leaving the scene of the incident transfers this act to the plane of intentionality. In this case, in case of death, you can get up to 10 years of serving a sentence in a maximum security colony, and causing moderate bodily harm can result in three years in a general security colony.

Identification of the accident site

It is not always possible for traffic police officers to arrive at the scene of an accident within a few minutes. If the accident occurred far from a populated area or in difficult weather conditions - icing of the road, hurricane, heavy snowfall, etc., the traffic police and or traffic police may arrive at the scene in half an hour or later.

To preserve traces of the incident, you must:

Do not move the vehicle.
Do not trample tire marks.
Place a warning triangle at a distance of 15 m in a populated area or 30 m away from it.
If it rains or snows, try to protect the marks from being washed away by covering them with plastic oilcloth, within a radius of at least a few meters from the vehicle.

A natural question arises: “if I am the culprit of an accident, why do I need all this trouble?” - at least in order to reduce the blow to your budget by paying insurance under compulsory motor liability insurance.

Next, you need to ensure that traffic police officers complete the following actions.

Traceological examination - recording all traces of the incident.
Examination for the presence of alcohol and or other drugs in the blood.
Displaying in the protocol all the nuances of the incident.

Otherwise, it will be extremely difficult to achieve payment of compulsory motor liability insurance . Further, depending on the consequences caused by the collision, events can develop according to the following scenarios.

If there were no deaths or no moderate or serious bodily injuries and the participants in the incident managed to decide on the amount of compensation and which party would claim insurance payment, the incident is over.

If the parties to the accident are unable to reach an agreement on the above aspects or the accident resulted in the death of at least one participant or moderate or serious bodily injury, a protocol on the preliminary assessment of the damage caused is drawn up, which records all the circumstances of the incident.

Eyewitnesses of the accident

Why do eyewitnesses run away from the scene of a traffic accident? The legislation of the Russian Federation puts witnesses of road accidents in a rather delicate position. On the one hand, there is criminal liability for giving false testimony, and on the other, improper provision of witness safety.

Participants in the accident, an official in an SUV and a summer resident in the 412 Moskvich. The first one is the culprit of the accident. Telling the truth means persecution by an official; lying means a possible 2-year prison sentence. What should I do? True, the legislator gave the right not to testify against a spouse and close relatives.

A disabled witness can testify only within the framework of the information he perceives - a blind person can describe the sound picture of the incident, and a person with hearing problems can describe the visual picture.

Calling an ambulance for the injured

If the accident occurred in a city or regional center, then there are no problems with calling an ambulance. What if the accident occurred far from a populated area? In this case, the culprit of the accident has a wonderful opportunity to reduce the degree of his guilt if his car is running and the culprit manages to deliver the victim to the nearest hospital in time.

If one of the vehicle drivers has a medical education, and he does not have time to provide first aid due to the lack of necessary dressings, he may be charged with untimely provision of medical care, accordingly, the term of serving the sentence can either be increased or replaced with a penal colony to a general regime colony.

If death occurs instantly, there is no need to call an ambulance; a medical examination will still be carried out as part of the criminal process.

If the accident occurred far from a populated area, none of the participants in the accident has ever provided first aid, and the victim has multiple fractures, cannot rise independently without visual injuries, or is not unconscious, in no case should the victim be turned over. This can only worsen his condition. You need to try to stop the bleeding and wait for the ambulance to arrive.

Calling traffic police officers

Attention! Any accident is, at a minimum, an administrative offense. Consequently, calling traffic police officers will cost from 500 rubles. However, even if no one is injured, but the vehicle needs repairs, then calling traffic police officers is necessary, at least to officially confirm the insured event, otherwise you will have to pay for the repairs at your own expense.

Traffic police officers:

Draw up a report on the incident.
Draw up a diagram of the incident.
In the event of bodily injury or death, materials about the accident are transferred to the investigative authorities.
They are preparing materials about the accident to initiate a criminal case.
Issue a certificate of accident for the insurance company.

Is it possible to recover damages from the cyclist at fault?

Bicycle owners are not subject to compulsory insurance due to the fact that the bicycle is not a source of increased danger; therefore, the culprit cyclist is liable in accordance with civil law. Compensation for damage is carried out in court.

To bring the owner of a bicycle to justice, it is necessary to establish the degree of guilt and the presence of intent, as a result of which the court can relieve liability partially or in full.

How can the culprit of an accident reduce the penalty?

Do not forget that you can completely fight off the amount collected from you by disputing fault in a traffic accident. If the procedure for proving the guilt of the second participant is successful, then it will be possible to ask for compensation in your favor.

In accordance with the law, reducing the amount of recovery from the culprit of an accident is possible by challenging the assessment of damage. You have the right to submit a forensic examination of the case or conduct your own, challenging the conclusions of the specialist who prepared the report for the second party in the case, watch the video with tips on challenging the examination of the case:

What to do if the person at fault for the accident has no money?

If a settlement agreement was not concluded between the culprit and the victim as a result of an accident at the court hearing and it was not possible to reach an agreement to voluntarily compensate for the damage suffered, then first of all, after the decision is made, it is necessary to obtain and submit to the bailiff service at the place of registration of the guilty person a writ of execution for initiation of enforcement proceedings.

The deadline for filing a writ of execution is three years from the date the court decision enters into legal force. Also, enforcement proceedings will not be terminated until the culprit’s obligation to you is properly fulfilled.

The procedure for the enforcement of a writ of execution begins when the debtor is entered into the database of enforcement proceedings, subsequently all bank accounts of the debtor are automatically blocked, a request is sent to the Federal Tax Service, and if there is information about employment, wages will be seized and up to 50% will be deducted in your favor, also the debtor is prohibited from traveling abroad.

The restrictions provided for by law are a guarantee for the restoration of the violated rights of citizens.

INTERESTING : read our legal practice on collecting damages from the culprit of a traffic situation, and also watch a video with a review of an injured pedestrian

Actions after registration of an accident

After registering an accident, it is advisable to submit the package of documents specified in the MTPL or CASCO insurance policy within 24 hours. Insurance payment is made within 14-21 days from the next day after registration of the package of documents.

If an accident results in death or serious bodily injury, do not be passive! If you take part or all of the expenses for treatment or funeral arrangements, this will be taken into account in court. And the human aspect is also important!