Do the police have the right to demand insurance?

Is the driver required to present insurance to the traffic police inspector?

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.

What must be presented to the traffic police inspector?

All issues related to civil liability insurance are covered in the Law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance”. It contains the obligation to present a compulsory insurance policy in three cases:

• in case of an accident;
• violation of traffic rules;
• at the time the vehicle is deregistered.

However, this contradicts the responsibilities of drivers described in the traffic rules. Namely: clause 2.1.1 contains the right of a traffic police officer to check, and therefore the obligation of the car owner to transfer for inspection:

• license or other document allowing you to temporarily drive a vehicle;
• registration documents;
• insurance.

This is a mandatory list for everyone, regardless of the situation. In some cases, other documents may be required.

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.

The driver is required to present documents confirming the right to use and drive a vehicle. The insurance contains a list of persons allowed to drive a car. Therefore, the MTPL policy is required to be presented when stopped by the traffic police.

Responsibility for violating traffic rules

Administrative liability is provided for failure to provide an employee with compulsory motor vehicle liability insurance. According to paragraph 2 of Article 12.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, a fine of 500 rubles is imposed on a car owner who does not present this official document, and a warning is also issued.

Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation Article 12.3. Driving a vehicle by a driver who does not have the documents provided for by the Traffic Rules

2. Driving a vehicle by a driver who does not have documents for the right to drive it, an insurance policy of compulsory insurance of civil liability of vehicle owners, with the exception of the case provided for in Part 2 of Article 12.37 of this Code, and in cases provided for by law, a waybill or goods receipt - transport documents, entails a warning or the imposition of an administrative fine in the amount of five hundred rubles.

Purchasing a new car

According to current legislation, when purchasing a car, its owner is obliged to take out insurance no later than 10 days from the date of signing the sales contract. It is from this moment that he turns into the owner of the vehicle. The fact of purchasing a car gives its owner the right to use the car for its intended purpose, but obliges it to insure third-party liability within 10 days.

If during this period the car is stopped by a traffic police post, the driver is required to present a purchase and sale agreement instead of a policy. After 10 days from the date of purchase, traffic cops have the legal right to fine an uninsured car owner.

To avoid punishment, some manage to correct the date of purchase of the car (they draw up a contract with an open date). But this is a temporary measure - you will still have to buy a policy, and it is better to do it in a timely manner.

Electronic variant

Since 2017, every car owner has the opportunity to take out a compulsory car insurance policy without leaving home. This can be done on the website of any insurance company. The obligation of insurers to sell electronic options is provided for by law, but in practice it is not always possible to obtain this advanced service. However, this is not about that now.

If the car owner nevertheless exercised his legal right and bought an electronic MTPL, then what should he do when stopped by the traffic police? After all, the employee has all the legal grounds (see above) to request a paper document from the driver.

The key to solving this dilemma lies in Article 32 of the Federal Law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance”. This paragraph states that when applying for an electronic version of insurance and in the event of a car being stopped by a traffic police officer, the driver is required to present a printed version of the policy. The electronic version is always sent to the email address specified when registering for compulsory motor liability insurance.

Every driver is required to present a printed document when stopped by a police officer with the appropriate authority.

Before the relevant changes were made to the Law, the provision of a printed version of insurance was only advisory in nature, and traffic cops received verbal orders to check the availability of valid policies in the database. But now the issue is more or less resolved. Every car owner who applies for compulsory motor liability insurance via the Internet must print it out and take it with him.

To summarize: To avoid valid claims and unnecessary fines, always carry proof of insurance with you. His demand by traffic police officers is justified and completely legal. Moreover, you may receive a fine for failure to provide compulsory motor insurance.

Is the driver required to show his insurance to the police officer?

The legislation of Ukraine has a clear list of grounds when the police can stop a car, reports U-News.com.ua. To ensure that the driver’s rights are not violated, it is also advisable for him to know in what situations the patrol can stop him and in what situations he cannot.

There are nine such reasons in total:

1. The driver violated the traffic rules.

2. There are obvious signs indicating a technical malfunction of the vehicle.

3. There is information that indicates the involvement of the driver (his vehicle) or passengers in the commission of an offense.

4. The vehicle is wanted.

5. It is necessary to interview the driver or passengers about the circumstances of the accident.

6. It is necessary to involve the driver in assisting other road users or police officers or to involve them as a witness when drawing up protocols.

7. A government authority has decided to restrict or prohibit traffic.

8. The way the load is secured creates a hazard.

9. Violation of the procedure for identifying and using special light or sound signaling devices.

Meanwhile, our readers report that, for example, in Gnutovo and Talakovka, police from rapid response teams often stop motorists and ask to show their MTPL insurance policy.

The debate about whether a driver is required to show insurance to a police officer has been going on for a long time. To put an end to the issue of the legality of checking an insurance policy, we want to decipher the norms of the law.

Every person who gets behind the wheel of a car should know that the main document that regulates his rights and obligations is called the Law of Ukraine “On Road Traffic”. In Art. 16 of this law, it is written that the driver is obliged to have with him and, at the request of police officers, to hand over for verification certificates, registration and other documents confirming the right to drive a vehicle, and in cases provided for by law, an insurance policy on the conclusion of a compulsory civil insurance agreement. legal liability of owners of land vehicles, a license card for a motor vehicle in the case of providing services for the transportation of passengers and goods.

As you can see, the legislator clearly separated the process of transferring documents for a car and an insurance policy to a police officer. In simple words, the driver’s obligation to show insurance arises only in cases provided for by law, and these cases differ from those that arise when the driver is required to show his license and registration certificate.

What are these incidents that are mentioned in the Road Traffic Law? We can find the answer to this question in the Law “On compulsory insurance of civil liability of owners of land vehicles.” In paragraph 21.2 of Art. 21 of the specified document states that control over the availability of compulsory insurance contracts for civil liability of owners of land vehicles is carried out by the State Traffic Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine during state technical inspection, registration of vehicles, as well as when drawing up protocols on violations of the Traffic Rules and registration of road traffic materials. transport accidents.

Thus, the law of Ukraine defines a clear list of cases when the inspector has the right to demand, and the driver is obliged to provide an insurance policy. In any other situations, checking the policy is illegal.

However, police officers refer to the Traffic Rules. Clause 2.1 of the Rules states that the driver of a motor vehicle must have a compulsory insurance policy for civil liability of owners of land vehicles and, in accordance with 2.4, upon request of a police officer, hand it over for inspection.

What should a driver do in this situation? We definitely advise you to follow the Road Traffic Law, especially since the police officer does not have the right to fine you for refusing to hand over your insurance policy.

According to Art. 126 of the Code of Administrative Violations, punishment follows for driving vehicles by drivers who do not have with them or have not presented or submitted for verification a driver’s license of the appropriate category, a coupon for it, registration and other documents confirming the right to use or dispose of the vehicle, and in cases provided for by law, a properly executed roadbill or documents for the transported cargo, a license card for the vehicle, as well as a compulsory insurance policy for civil liability of owners of land vehicles.

That is, administrative liability occurs only when the driver did not transfer or present a civil liability policy in cases provided for by law. This means that if you were stopped and fined for not having a policy in the specified cases, then such a police decision is illegal and will simply be canceled in court.

It turns out that people's deputies limited the right of police officers to check the insurance policy. But in the Cabinet of Ministers, to which the Ministry of Internal Affairs reports, on the contrary, they want to have as much power as possible. That is why a situation has arisen when the traffic rules (resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers) are trying to expand the scope of the law of Ukraine, distorting the essence of its provisions.

But according to the Constitution (Article 19), public authorities and their officials are obliged to act only on the basis, within the limits of authority and in the manner provided for by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine.

Those. A police officer, as a representative of state power, is obliged to act only as written in the laws. Let us emphasize - not in accordance with by-laws, orders, resolutions, but specifically laws that are adopted in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and not in the government building or bureaucratic offices.

Police fine for a car without insurance: what the law, police and lawyer say

In Dnepr, the police stopped a guy who was driving a car without insurance. A debate broke out on social networks about whether the patrol officers had the right to fine the driver.

Auto Informator decided to look into the topic and talked with the lawyer of the Law Firm "Alliance of Legal Forces" Vladimir Boretsky and the head of the public relations department of the patrol police of the Dnepropetrovsk region Pavel Karmanov.

What happened

On July 22, Dnipro resident Dmitry Vronsky was stopped by patrol police. The reason is that the car does not have insurance, according to the database. “The Dnieper patrol police stop cars that have run out of insurance! Please note, the reason is “You have run out of insurance - we saw it in the database.” This happened to me. And yes, I’m ready to pay the fine because I didn’t collect the insurance on time,” writes Dmitry and wonders whether the actions of the patrolmen are legal.

What the law says

Article 23. Basic powers of the police:

1. The police, according to the tasks assigned to them, can:

• 1) carry out preventive and prophylactic activities aimed at preventing the commission of offenses;
• 3) take measures to identify criminal and administrative offenses; stop detected criminal and administrative offenses;
• 8) in cases determined by law, carry out proceedings in cases of administrative offenses, make decisions on the application of administrative penalties and ensure their implementation;

Article 25. Powers of the police in the field of information and analytical support:

1. The police carry out information and analytical activities solely for the implementation of their powers defined by this Law.

2. Police within the framework of information and analytical activities:

• 1) forms databases (banks) of data included in the unified information system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine;
• 2) uses databases (data banks) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and other government bodies;
• 3) carries out information retrieval and information and analytical work;
• 4) carries out information interaction with other government bodies of Ukraine, law enforcement agencies of foreign states and international organizations.

3. The police can create their own databases necessary to ensure the daily activities of police bodies (institutions, organizations) in the field of labor, financial, management relations, document flow relations, as well as interdepartmental information and analytical systems necessary to fulfill the powers assigned to it.

4. Police activities related to the protection and processing of personal data are carried out on the grounds determined by the Constitution of Ukraine, the Law of Ukraine “On the Protection of Personal Data”, and other laws of Ukraine.

Article 35. Suspension of a vehicle

1. A police officer may stop vehicles in the following cases:

3) if there is information that indicates the involvement of the driver or passengers of the vehicle in the commission of a traffic accident, criminal or administrative offense, or if there is information that indicates that the vehicle or cargo may be the object or instrument of an accident, criminal or administrative offense;

Article 32. Verification of a person’s documents

1. A police officer has the right to demand that a person present identification documents and/or documents confirming the corresponding right of the person in the following cases:

2) if there are sufficient grounds to believe that the person has committed or intends to commit an offense;

Article 53. Responsibilities of the relevant units of the National Police for inspection and control of compulsory civil liability insurance

• Officials of the relevant units of the National Police, who have the right to monitor compliance with traffic rules, check the documents of the driver of the vehicle confirming the presence of a valid contract of compulsory civil liability insurance.

What do the patrol police say?

“The inspector checked the car’s database and saw that there was no insurance. According to Article 35, paragraph 3 of the Law of Ukraine “On the National Police,” patrol officers can stop a car “if there is information indicating the involvement of the driver or passengers of the vehicle in the commission of a traffic accident, criminal or administrative offense , or if there is information which indicates that the vehicle or cargo may be the object or instrument of an accident, criminal or administrative offense;.” That is, information about the driver’s involvement in committing an administrative offense,” noted Pavel Karmanov.

According to the traffic rules clause 2.1, the driver of a motor vehicle must have with him a “policy (certificate) of compulsory insurance of civil liability of owners of land vehicles.”

“There was no policy. For which administrative liability is provided for under the Code of Administrative Offenses. Article 126. “Driving a vehicle by a person who does not have the appropriate documents for the right to drive such a vehicle or has not presented them for inspection, or in respect of whom a temporary restriction on the right to drive vehicles has been established. Driving a vehicle by a person who does not have or has not presented for verification a driver's license of the appropriate category, a registration document for the vehicle, as well as a policy (agreement) of compulsory insurance of civil liability of owners of land vehicles (insurance certificate "Green Card") entails imposition of a fine in the amount of 25 tax-free minimum incomes of citizens, that is, 425 hryvnia. For which, after considering the case, a decision is made,” added Pavel Karmanov.

Lawyer's opinion

Lawyer of the Law Firm "Alliance of Legal Forces" Vladimir Boretsky also cites the laws of Ukraine described above as an example. And he adds that in the Law of Ukraine “On compulsory insurance of civil liability of owners of land vehicles” there is article 21.2, according to which control over the availability of contracts of compulsory insurance of civil liability of owners of land vehicles is carried out by the relevant units of the National Police when drawing up protocols on violations of the rules traffic and registration of materials of road accidents .

The Law of Ukraine “On the National Police” does not contain requirements for the mandatory presentation of an insurance policy. At the same time, the disposition itself (the central element of the legal norm that specifies the rights or obligations of subjects - Ed.) of Article 126 of the Code of Administrative Offenses provides for liability for failure to provide such an insurance policy. As an authority, the National Police is obliged to act only within the limits permitted by law . Therefore, these actions can and should be appealed,” says Vladimir Boretsky.

Everything you need to know about car insurance in Ukraine can be found here.

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We previously wrote about the fines for illegal parking and running a red traffic light. They told us why you shouldn’t violate traffic rules when crossing railway tracks. How much it costs to break the rules of a mandatory sign, see here. Why you shouldn't talk on your cell phone while driving, see here. Find out how much it costs to fail to comply with road markings here. If a car driver does not allow a pedestrian to pass, you will find the amount of the fine for this violation here. We also advised pedestrians how to behave on the road and reminded them of fines for violations.

When and in what cases do you need to show your insurance policy to a traffic police inspector?

What does the law tell us?

It is a well-known fact that the driver must have a compulsory motor liability insurance policy, since it is one of the mandatory documents giving the right to use the vehicle. That is, according to the Law, on the territory of Ukraine it is prohibited to use a vehicle that can be classified if it is not covered by a compulsory motor third party liability insurance policy. Accordingly, the MTPL policy should always be with you when you go anywhere, as well as your license and registration certificate.

Now let’s look at when a driver is required to show his insurance to the traffic police (or rather, to the policeman). Before the advent of the police, it was common practice for the traffic police to stop motorists in order to check documents, and at the same time the availability of insurance. Often this procedure ended with a bribe, as a result of which the driver, impoverished by a hundred or two hryvnia, drove on, and the satisfied traffic cops were left to look for a new victim. Today the situation has changed radically. First of all, know that the police do not have the right to stop you just to check your documents (and the presence of an MTPL policy at the same time). It’s a different matter if there was a traffic violation - in this case, the driver must be ready to show the insurance to the policeman at the first request, since during the preparation of the report the policeman is obliged to check the availability of the MTPL insurance policy. If you don’t have your MTPL policy with you, at best you will receive a verbal warning, at worst – a fine. In what other cases will you have to show the police your insurance? In addition to cases of drawing up traffic violation protocols, the driver needs to show the traffic police insurance when drawing up a traffic accident report. Here you need to take into account that if the culprit of the incident (or a participant in the accident who is partially responsible for what happened) does not have an insurance policy with him, then he will have to pay not only a fine for violating traffic rules that led to the accident, but also for not having it in his hands OSAGO policy. And remember that if you simply did not take out a compulsory motor liability insurance policy and your actions on the road led to property damage, harm to health and moral damage to others, then all financial responsibility for compensation for this damage falls on you. shoulders.

Naturally, this does not apply to those categories of the population for whom issuing a policy is not mandatory - in this case, MTIBU assumes full responsibility for compensation for damage. Categories of the population such as combatants and disabled war veterans, as well as disabled people of the first group who personally drive a vehicle belonging to them and persons driving a car belonging to a disabled person of the first group in his presence are not required to have and provide an MTPL policy.

Am I required to show my insurance to the traffic police officer?

A traffic police inspector stopped me to check my documents. I didn't break anything. Showed his driver's license and car registration. The inspector asked for an insurance policy. Do I have to show it? After all, the traffic rules say - in cases where the obligation to insure one’s civil liability is established by federal law. What are these cases? And what kind of movement can there be without an insurance policy?

I know that in Ukraine, compulsory motor liability insurance is presented only in case of violation of traffic rules, or in case of an accident. and in the Russian Federation?

While on duty, traffic police officers have the right to stop cars to check drivers’ documents required by traffic regulations, including an insurance policy for compulsory civil liability insurance, and to confiscate them in cases established by law.
All car owners, both individuals and organizations, are required to insure their civil liability by concluding a compulsory insurance agreement.

Civil liability insurance must be insured before registering the vehicle, but no later than 10 days after ownership arises. An uninsured car will not be registered with the traffic police. An administrative fine in the amount of 500 to 800 rubles may be imposed on a car owner for lack of compulsory insurance.

(The rules for compulsory civil liability insurance of vehicle owners were approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 7, 2003 N 263)

-In accordance with Regulation 185, checking documents for the right to use and drive a vehicle, documents for the vehicle and the cargo being transported, as well as identification documents of the driver and passengers (ONLY at stationary traffic police posts), and not wherever he wants.

Roman, this wording is so-called legal slang, so that in case of changes in one document, you do not have to rewrite a bunch of others.
This means that if the law provides for compulsory civil liability insurance of a vehicle, then you are required by law to have an insurance policy with you and show it to the traffic police inspector upon request.

The documents that the driver must present to the traffic police officer include the documents specified in clause 2.1.1 of the traffic rules

2. General duties of drivers[Road rules] [2]

2.1. The driver of a motor vehicle is obliged to:

2.1.1. Carry with you and, at the request of police officers, hand over to them for verification:

a driver's license or temporary permit to drive a vehicle of the appropriate category;

registration documents for this vehicle, and if there is a trailer, also for the trailer;

in established cases, permission to carry out activities for the transportation of passengers and luggage by passenger taxi, waybill, license card and documents for the transported cargo, and when transporting large, heavy and dangerous goods - documents provided for by the rules for the transportation of these goods;

insurance policy of compulsory civil liability insurance of the vehicle owner in cases where the obligation to insure one’s civil liability is established by federal law.

In cases expressly provided for by current legislation, have and submit for inspection to employees of the Federal Service for Supervision of Transport a license card, waybill and shipping documents.