Icicle insurance

It is impossible to protect your car from any vagaries of nature, but you can insure it. Let's see how it works.

Snow or a cat - anything will do

Due to weather disasters that occurred on New Year's Eve, hundreds of cars were damaged. It would seem that drivers who did not spare money on CASCO insurance at one time did not lose anything and, having reported an insured event, had every right to expect payments. However, there are many reports on the Internet that there are problems with receiving compensation.

“Damage caused by such events,” explains Dmitry Titiev, director of the methodology department of the loss settlement department of Rosgosstrakh, “falls under the terms of the CASCO agreement and is covered by risks that are spelled out in our rules as “any objects falling on the car” or “natural disasters.” It doesn’t matter what exactly falls on your car - wood, plaster, ice, or a cat who decides to jump out of the window. To receive an insurance premium, you will need a police certificate, a statement from the insured person and the car itself, which must be presented for inspection.

You can't run over icicles!

It’s easy to say, but in reality it’s sometimes difficult to get the same certificate from the police. Moreover, the problem is not that the certificate itself is not given, but that the police often refuse to arrive at the scene of the incident and ask to come to the station in a damaged car. The reason for refusal is quite logical: they say, icicles fall on many people - you can’t hit everyone. If you decide to go to the police yourself, be prepared that the insurance company may refuse to pay, since the report was drawn up in violation - not at the scene of the incident.

“A driver who sees that his car is damaged by ice, snow or any other objects should first call his insurance company,” advises Anton Ryumin, director of the direct insurance product department at KIT Finance Insurance. – In fact, it usually turns out that a person who has signed up for CASCO applies anywhere but to the insurance company (hereinafter referred to as IC), thereby creating difficulties for himself out of nowhere. The hotline operator, which is available in almost every insurance company, will tell you where to call next, what to do and what not to do. For example, we offer our clients a free emergency dispatcher who comes to the scene of an incident and helps sort everything out. As for the police, their employees really should draw up a report at the scene of the incident, and not at the police station. True, many insurance companies turn a blind eye to this.

Someone else's ice is not your problem

In winter, you can often see the following picture: along the side of the road, where cars are usually parked, striped tape is stretched, fencing off the dangerous zone of falling snow or ice. What if the car was left in such a place before the housing office workers decided to clean the roof? And what happens if you put the car under the tape, despite the warnings? Even in these cases, insurance companies should not refuse payment under CASCO. True, with a caveat.

“It is possible that some insurance company will see this as a violation of the rules for the use of insured property and refuse to pay,” says Anton Ryumin from KIT Finance Insurance. – In this case, you will have to seek compensation through the courts.

educational program

In order to receive compensation for the “Damage” risk, the insurance company client should not care whose fault the damage occurred - whether it happened as a result of weather conditions (a tree falling under the weight of snow) or due to the negligence of a housing office employee who, without looking, threw a block of ice from the roof. In both cases, the insured person will be compensated for the damage if the documents are collected correctly. But when drawing up a new CASCO agreement, it will be taken into account for what reason the payments were made. If the car was damaged due to weather conditions, the insurance company client may not receive a bonus for accident-free operation, but if the damage occurred as a result of the actions of third parties (the insurance company will try to receive compensation from them), he has the right to count on a reduction factor.

advice from mechanic Gavrilov

In order for the power steering to last longer, you should not overload it again. For example, when you are about to turn around, you should not turn the steering wheel all the way while you wait for the opportunity to perform the maneuver. The steering wheel turned all the way puts additional load on both the power steering pump and its sealing elements. As for the winter period, at low temperatures it is necessary to avoid active taxiing in a cold car.