| The government will reveal all the positive aspects of the “autocitizen” in a few years. Russians will be able to appreciate all the delights of compulsory motor liability insurance in the form in which they were described by insurers and officials three years ago, before the introduction of compulsory liability insurance for car owners, no earlier than in a few years. At its meeting yesterday, the government confirmed its course towards a very leisurely improvement of the mechanisms of the “automobile insurance policy” and at the same time disappointed drivers with its reluctance to revise basic insurance rates.
For ministers with official vehicles with special license plates and special signals, sports issues aroused much greater interest than the problems that concern millions of car owners. And therefore, the proposals of Deputy Minister of Finance Sergei Shatalov, who promised to do a lot, but tomorrow, raised virtually no objections among cabinet members. Moreover, the minister announced the results of a survey provided by the Russian Union of Auto Insurers, which allegedly revealed that up to 70% of drivers are satisfied with the current “motor citizen” - without, of course, specifying that the figures from a sociological point of view are far from correct, and the survey was conducted only in large cities of the country.
The only government promise that can be implemented in the near future has already been practically fulfilled by State Duma deputies for the White House. On Wednesday, legislators expanded the list of cases in which a motorist can count on payments from the guarantee funds of the Russian Union of Insurers. After the president signs amendments to the law on compulsory motor liability insurance, drivers injured in road accidents will be able to receive compensation, even if the damage caused to them was insured by companies whose licenses were revoked (previously, bankruptcy of the insurer was a prerequisite). As RSA Director of Legal Affairs Oleg Pilipets assured yesterday, the union’s reserve fund now has about 930 million rubles, which is clearly enough to compensate for losses suffered by clients of problematic companies with revoked licenses, the most popular of which were Avest and West Siberian transport insurance company, which has made more than 200 thousand Russians happy with MTPL policies.
In the future, the government promises not only to take care of guaranteed payments to all victims, but also to increase the amount of compensation for damage to life and health of those involved in an accident. Today, the maximum amount of payments is limited to 240 thousand rubles, and they must be divided among all victims of the accident (if there were several of them). The Ministry of Finance proposes to expand the liability limit so that everyone can receive this amount.
At the same time, Sergei Shatalov assured that the ministry does not support both the proposals to increase basic rates coming from some insurers and the demands of motorists to reduce rates. It was decided not to touch the basic tariff, which is currently 1,980 rubles. The Ministry of Finance offers to meet halfway only for disabled people, who, if the government does not forget to issue a special resolution, will be able to recover 50% of the cost of the compulsory motor liability insurance policy through social security. In principle, Mr. Shatalov did not object to the reduction of some coefficients related to the car’s power or the driver’s experience, as well as to the revision for the better of the bonus-malus system. However, from his speech it was clear that reasonable calculations and agreements on all these proposals could take officials quite a lot of time.
According to the Deputy Minister of Finance, it will take at least two to three years to eliminate the shortcomings of the current system of compulsory liability insurance for car owners that are not directly related to money. The government today is absolutely not ready to simplify the bureaucratic procedure for obtaining compensation and finally relieve “damaged” drivers of the need to knock on the doorsteps of the traffic police, insurance companies and all kinds of examinations. More precisely, the leaders of the Ministry of Finance, as citizens, who may sometimes drive on their own, agree that in cases where there are only two participants in an accident, the material damage from it is insignificant and the parties do not argue about guilt, the traffic police inspector should be excluded from the registration procedure Road accident. But as officials, they cannot make such concessions for their compatriots. As Mr. Shatalov explained yesterday, it is first necessary to create a single information resource, establish clear coordination between the traffic inspectorate and the RSA, and only then think about the transition to the so-called European protocol, which allows injured drivers to communicate only with their insurance company. Which, in turn, will resolve all issues with the culprit’s insurers. Fedor SEREBRYANSKY |
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