Windshield replacement under OSAGO

How to replace a windshield broken by a stone according to OSAGO

The plot of this story began to spin almost a year ago, in September 2016. Then a resident of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was driving her car along one of the local dirt roads following another car. At some point, a particularly powerful sheaf of gravel flew out from under the wheels of the vehicle in front and hit the windshield of the main character’s car. The amount of material damage, according to the results of an independent examination, subsequently organized by the injured car owner, amounted to about 60,000 rubles. Madame, having decided that what happened was not covered by compulsory motor liability insurance, filed a lawsuit against the culprit of the incident demanding compensation of 85,150 rubles - taking into account the cost of damage, the cost of conducting an examination and legal expenses.

However, the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky City Court assessed what happened in its own way. He decided that the immediate cause of the accident was the defendant’s violation of traffic rules: the driver did not take into account the condition of the road surface, the technical features of his car and, as a result, allowed gravel to be released from under the rear wheels of his car. Considering that the road accident occurred with the participation of two vehicles, and the civil liability of the culprit at that time was insured under MTPL, the court came to the conclusion that the road accident in question was an insured event.

In addition, in the norms of federal law there is no indication that an insured event occurs only when there is direct contact (collision) of two vehicles during an accident. On this basis, the owner of a car with a broken gravel glass was denied a claim against the culprit of the incident. Following the logic of the court, she should have filed an accident under compulsory motor liability insurance and applied for compensation from her insurance company.

This approach to the situation was confirmed in the appellate instance - in the Kamchatka Regional Court. Taking into account this court decision, we can recommend the following algorithm of actions when a stone from a car in front breaks the front wheel of your car. After the impact, we record the number of the shooter’s car using, for example, a DVR. Ideally, we stop it somehow. Next, we call the police, file an accident report and notify the insurance company. If she refuses to compensate, we rub the insurer’s nose in the decisions of the Kamchatka courts. If this doesn’t work, we go to court and win the case, receiving also a penalty from the insurance company.

All this is great, but what a misfortune: when registering our accident, it will almost inevitably turn out that the offending car “fled the scene of the accident.” Despite the fact that her driver had no idea what had happened. But what is deprivation of the “rights” of an actually innocent person compared to material compensation for our damage, right?

Got a rock in your windshield? We receive payment under compulsory motor liability insurance.

Many Russian car owners do not know that the driver can demand compensation for damage if, for example, a stone flew into the windshield.

It turns out that such cases are classified as a traffic accident and you can receive a payment under compulsory motor liability insurance.

What to do if a stone hits the glass?

Rockfalls happen not only in the mountains, for example, small pebbles on the road from a car in front.

Flying out from under the wheels they can seriously damage your car. For example, the windshield. Even the most careful driver is not immune from this annoying nuisance. It is simply impossible to react. A foreign object hits with the speed of a bullet.

And now you are looking at the world from behind a path of cracks, like a spider. Agree, it’s not very pleasant. Especially in the evening, when the mini-mesh glares and blinds the driver. After the arrival of a “surprise”, you pull off to the side of the road or park at the curb and you are faced with the question: a stone has hit the windshield, what should you do?

However, few people know that damage can be compensated.

The fact is that, according to the law, hitting glass with a stone is considered a traffic accident, which means there is always a victim and a culprit.

Utility service organizations are responsible for maintaining the roads in good condition; they are required to monitor not only the absence of potholes, but also any foreign objects on the road surface.

If you have been damaged by cobblestones, you can safely demand repairs from the road workers.

It is necessary to record the fact that the stone flew out from under the wheel and hit the car. If there is a video recorder, it’s pretty good - we have video material; if there is no recorder, we have testimony from witnesses.

Call the traffic police to the scene of the incident.

We receive a certificate of damage.

With this certificate we go to court.

However, if the road is undergoing repairs and the corresponding signs indicate this, then the road workers have nothing to do with it.

If, as a result of the fact that the place was fenced off and there were special signs and the driver should not have entered this zone, in accordance with the traffic rules, but the driver entered this zone and a stone or other object flew out of there, then insurance will work in this situation.

This means that the driver of the car, from under the wheels of which the ill-fated stone flew out, is recognized as the culprit of the accident. He did not take into account road conditions and caused an accident. Broken glass, according to the rules of OSAGO, is obliged to replace it by the insurance company.

The algorithm of actions is the same as indicated above, with the exception of the last point. First, we go to the insurance company with an application for insurance payment, and only if the insurer refuses to pay, then we go to court.

Experts emphasize that you cannot save on this procedure. If the thought flashed through to install non-original glass, throw this thought out of your head. This is a technically complex, science-intensive product; analogues, as a rule, consist of low-quality materials and can distort the picture like a lens.

A stone hit the windshield: how to get compensation?

A driver who finds himself in such a situation needs to remain calm and stop as soon as possible, but not in the middle of the road, but still on the side of the road. After this, you need to turn on the hazard warning lights, put up an emergency stop sign and report the incident to the traffic police. It is also advisable to inform your insurance company as soon as possible, but it is still better to wait for the arrival of an inspector who will help you file an accident.

Yes, yes, no need to be surprised: a stone hitting a car is clearly interpreted as a traffic accident - read the definition in the Road Traffic Rules. Thus, the driver is obliged to complete all the necessary documents to repair his car under comprehensive insurance. Well, if he only has MTPL in his hands, then he will have to take into account all the circumstances of the incident. Moreover, the court sometimes comes to paradoxical, at first glance, conclusions that in fact there was no accident.

Dubious precedent

Recently, reports have appeared that it is impossible to receive payment under the “automobile citizenship” in such cases. The basis for such conclusions was the decision of the Supreme Court of Russia, which returned the license to the driver of a truck, from under whose wheels a stone flew out and damaged the windshield of the car following behind. According to traffic police officers, such an incident obliged the driver to stop and register an accident. He left. Therefore, he was charged with leaving the scene of a traffic accident.

As stated in the case materials, on June 29 last year in the village of Dukhovets, Kursk region, a car traveling in the same direction was damaged by a stone. The windshield cracked from the impact.

The traffic police officers at the checkpoint gave the driver A.A. Shinakov. certificate of accident. At the same time, they charged the driver I.V. Savchuk, who was driving a car owned by Metallinvestleasing CJSC, with violating clause 2.5 of the traffic rules - leaving the scene of an accident. A protocol was drawn up under Part 2 of Art. 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation and sent him to court.

The magistrate agreed that there had been an accident. And he concluded: since the truck driver left the scene of the accident, he should be deprived of his license for a year. The district and regional courts did not review the decision, but the Supreme Court of Russia qualified the case differently. And why?

Circumstances beyond the driver's control

The highest court indicated that, in accordance with Art. 2 of the Law of December 10, 1995 No. 196-FZ “On Road Safety” and clause 1.2 of the Traffic Regulations “a road traffic accident is an event that occurred during the movement of a vehicle on the road and with its participation, in which people were killed or injured, vehicles, structures, cargo or other material damage was caused.”

The event that occurred, the Supreme Court decided, does not meet the criteria of a traffic accident in the sense given to this concept in Article 2 of the Law on Road Safety and in paragraph 1.2 of the Traffic Regulations, and is not such, since the event occurred due to circumstances beyond the control of the driver, without any action on his part.

He did not have the opportunity to foresee this event, as well as the onset of consequences in the form of damage to the windshield from the next car in the same direction. Therefore, the conclusion of the lower courts about the presence in the driver’s actions of an objective aspect of an administrative offense under Part 2 of Art. 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation cannot be considered justified.

On this basis, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation overturned the decisions of the lower courts and terminated the proceedings in the case. (See Resolution of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated March 11, 2016 No. 39-AD16-1).

An accident for one

Thus, the position of the Supreme Court can be interpreted as follows: a citizen cannot be blamed for an unfortunate set of circumstances, since he did not commit any illegal actions. It turns out that a stone flying into the windshield of a car is an accident only for the one who was injured.

This legal position is important in determining the consequences of any accident. And every driver should take it into account when deciding whether he is obliged to stop or not.

According to the Supreme Court, the accident is in a direct cause-and-effect relationship with the actions of the driver. In the case at hand, it cannot be said that if the truck driver had been more careful, nothing would have happened.

An ill-fated stone that ended up on the road could have fallen under the wheels of any car. And if a particular driver was not at fault, then there is nothing to punish him for.

Prove the violation

However, do not rush to get upset. If you find yourself in a similar situation, the judge is not required to follow the Supreme Court decision in the case described above - we are not in the United States, and case law does not apply. You or your lawyer may be able to prove that the car that threw the stone was overtaking you on the side of the road, which is unacceptable, or on a section of the road that was being repaired, where it should have slowed down. It is possible that aggressive driving will be proven if this is confirmed by witnesses or dashcam footage. Then it will be possible to talk about a completely different qualification of the actions of the driver who ran over a stone. Even if he did it unintentionally.

Let us remember that the same Supreme Court recently revoked the rights of a reckless driver whose dangerous maneuver led to an accident, as a result of which another car crashed into a tree. The reckless driver drove away safely, as his car was not damaged, but the court considered that the absence of damage to the car does not affect the qualification of the violation. Therefore, the driver was punished for leaving the scene of an accident .

However, today the law allows you to leave the scene of an accident if, as a result of the incident, damage was caused only to property and the participants in the accident have no disagreement about who is to blame for causing the harm. However, even in this case, both drivers must first record the position of the cars, including by means of photography or video recording (Section 2.6.1 of the Traffic Regulations), and then are required to draw up documents at the nearest traffic police post or police department.

How to get insurance

So, if the windshield is broken by a stone, and you only have an MTPL policy, then the insurance company in most cases will not help you, since the culprit most likely disappeared (or simply did not understand that he damaged your car), and besides, no no evidence of his guilt. But if another object gets into the glass, for example, a shovel left on the road by repairmen, then a civil claim can be brought against them. If the accident occurred as a result of a traffic violation committed by another driver, then he will have to compensate for the damage.

If you have voluntary insurance (hull insurance), then you are required to replace the glass at the expense of the insurance company. The arriving traffic police officers will document the accident and give you the following documents: a certificate, a copy of the protocol and a resolution on the case. After which you will need to come with a set of documents to the insurance company and write a statement about the insured event. The application must be accompanied by a notification coupon - you will be given it on the day you submit the application to the police (even if it happened at night), a certificate in form F3 and a decision to initiate or refuse to initiate a criminal case.

Some insurance companies replace windshields without certificates (with “full comprehensive insurance”). Sometimes the insurance contract stipulates that you can apply without certificates in case of damage to glass elements, one body element, or bumpers, if the damage does not exceed the amount specified in the insurance contract. Moreover, glass elements can be replaced repeatedly. In such cases, the list of documents provided must be specified in the insurance contract and rules. Usually this is a passport, insurance policy, STS and driver's license.

Insurance windshield replacement

In most cases, a windshield with a chip or crack will need to be repaired or replaced as soon as possible to comply with traffic regulations and your own safety and the safety of others. Unfortunately, windshield repairs can cost a lot of money, especially if you don't know exactly what to do after an accident. In this article, we'll break down everything you should know about windshield replacement deductibles and other insurance considerations related to windshield repair or replacement.

Does your car insurance cover windshield replacement?

Take a look at your auto insurance policy. With the right coverage and under the right circumstances, it may not cost you anything to repair or replace. Again, without proper coverage, there may be a situation where 100% of the losses fall on you.

Understanding the Question

If your car glass is damaged by something other than a collision, any repairs or replacement needed will likely be covered by your comprehensive insurance, if you have it. Because comprehensive coverage is optional, not everyone has it, meaning you may have to pay out of pocket if you do.

What does comprehensive insurance usually cover?

• Storms;
• Fire;
• Vandalism;
• Collision with animals.

Do I have windshield insurance?

This will likely be one of the first questions that comes to your mind when faced with an expensive windshield repair/replacement job. Unfortunately, at least in some cases, the answer is not as simple as one might hope.

Simply put, the amount you'll have to pay out of pocket will depend on what type of insurance you have and what your deductible is.

Check with your insurance company to make sure windshield repair and replacement are covered under your insurance policy. Call your insurance company to get specific information about the coverage you currently have. For example, is it all included or just the side and rear windows?

Types of coverage

Windshield replacement and repair claims are almost always handled as comprehensive claims. This means that you must have comprehensive auto insurance. To find out if your insurer will pay for glass repairs, you should call your insurance agent. In addition to this, be sure to double-check all the details in your insurance policy (agents sometimes make mistakes).

Next, you should file your insurance claim as soon as possible. Do not wait until the repairs are completed as this will likely invalidate your claim.

Remember that windshield repair claims must be submitted before work begins, and there are many ways to reduce the amount you have to pay if you have comprehensive car insurance. In addition, zero deductible insurance is often a viable option for repairs or replacements at the insurance company's expense.

Filing for insurance compensation and compensation for damage

If you decide to apply, do so as soon as possible by phone, online, in person, or even through a mobile app. And always check with your insurance company before doing anything to prevent repair shop fraud and possibly save money.

Your insurance company's agent will confirm that the damage is covered and give you the opportunity to move forward. The insurance company will require you to bring the car in for inspection. Your claim will then be approved or denied for repair costs.

Many insurance companies require either: repairs at “their” service station or the choice of your own auto service center (some restrictions may apply). If you choose your own auto repair center, make sure that their bills will be accepted for reimbursement.

After any work is completed, keep all receipts so you have something to provide to the insurance company for reimbursement. And always review your accounts carefully. This will allow you to notice any manipulations. The repair shop may try to make more money from you. If you don't see this, your insurance company may have grounds to cancel your claim.

Some car insurance companies may allow you to download or fax your receipts or bills as long as you include your name, policy number, phone number and date of damage. Be sure to find out in advance what parts your insurance company needs and what shipping method they prefer.

What's the result?

Chips, cracks and broken windshields are some of the most common car repairs. Pebbles, vandalism, falling branches, animals, and even sand and gravel can damage your windshield. And, as you can see, these are ordinary everyday things.

You'll sleep better at night with insurance that covers windshield replacement. Whatever you do, just be aware of all possible scenarios. As they say, “knowledge is power.”

There is CASCO for every windshield

The situation when a pebble thrown from under the wheels hits the windshield is familiar to every driver. As a result, a chip forms, a crack spreads, and you need to contact a workshop and incur unexpected expenses. However, for holders of a CASCO policy, such problems are easier to solve.

Simple and convenient

Currently, almost all insurers provide payments for damaged car windows without certificates from the traffic police or police. In most companies, the number of requests on this matter is limited: no more than 1-2 times a year. Some insurance companies have programs in which the “no certificates” option is completely absent. Sometimes you may encounter this option when the client has the right to receive payments for glass without certificates an unlimited number of times. All these conditions are necessarily stipulated in the contract and, of course, directly affect the cost of CASCO. The following types of windshield damage are distinguished:

• Fight, cracks. Without question, they are grounds for replacement.
• Chips. Large ones (from 3-5 mm) also usually entail replacement of the damaged element. But since modern technologies make it possible to “high-quality straighten” fairly large chips, the car owner may be offered repairs instead of replacement.
• Scratches. If their size and location do not interfere with the driver's view, you can't count on replacing the windshield. Experts will most likely find it repairable. The issue with small chips is resolved in a similar way.
• Scuffs. As a rule, they are not considered as an insured event.

The procedure for “eliminating” problems with the windshield is simple. The insurance company assesses the damage and gives a referral to its service station, where the glass is either repaired or replaced. If necessary, it is possible to pay according to the calculation, which should compensate for all expenses:

• The cost of new glass and the repair kit required for its installation
• Work on dismantling old and installing new glass.

The replacement windshield must be original. If this is impossible for some reason, the insurer has the right to select a less expensive “analogue”, which must fully correspond to the previously installed glass: have the same built-in sensors (rain, snow, etc.), heat-protective layer, light-protective strip, etc. . All deviations from the standard equipment specified in the insurance contract must be agreed upon with the owner of the car. In this case, the tinting cannot be restored, since it refers to additional equipment, which under CASCO is drawn up in a separate agreement.