We polished the car in the yard, what should we do? OSAGO

What to do if your car is scratched in the yard?

What to do if your car is scratched in the yard? This question quite often worries vehicle owners, especially those who do not have a parking space or their own garage to store the car. In this regard, they simply leave the car in the courtyard of a residential building. The ensuing consequences often end in a waste of one’s own funds, since the culprit could not be found, and the MTPL insurance policy, which is available to law-abiding motorists, does not always interpret such a case as insurance. Obtaining information about how to act in such situations - where to go, what to do, will help you save your own money and bring the culprit to justice.

The essence of the problem

Why is the question so often raised regarding what to do in the event of minor car damage? Many car owners, especially in densely populated cities, leave their vehicles in the courtyards of residential buildings for lack of another option. Moreover, most often they are placed chaotically - without complying with the standards for one parking space - partially on the curb, on the lawn, blocking the passage or passage of people and vehicles. The result of this is scratches on the car, which can appear for completely different reasons:

A car parked nearby, which was parked or, on the contrary, was leaving the yard, was scratched;
The vehicle was accidentally hit by children playing in the yard;
The car was scratched by a dog;
The car was damaged intentionally. In such situations, motorists most often find themselves who left their cars in “someone else’s place” or blocked the road with their vehicle.

What to do if your car is scratched

Regardless of whether the car is new or old, or whether it has other damage, such a moment is very unpleasant for the car owner. What to do in such situations? Spending your own money is not an option in this case.

The most common reason for cars being scratched is the fault of other drivers who parked close to the victim's car. In most such situations, the motorist does not notice the collision or, on the contrary, understands that he has caused some damage to the other owner’s car and tries to escape.

Despite this, there are quite a large number of conscious motorists who are willing to bear responsibility. However, in most cases they will not pay the injured party the amount of damage caused.

If the culprit did not escape

If the motorist who caused harm through his actions remained at the scene of the incident, then the following actions will need to be taken:

Find out the moment of presence of the guilty person;
If you have insurance, it is quite possible to formalize the situation according to the European Protocol - the threshold for the maximum payment amount has already been increased to 100 thousand rubles. Repairing a scratch will definitely cost that amount, and after contacting the insurance company, the injured party will receive compensation in kind - the service station will repair the damage at the expense of the policy;
If the amount of damage is determined to be more significant, since there is not a scratch, but a dent, or other parts of the vehicle are damaged, in this case it is worth calling the traffic police officers to record the accident, the category of which this situation will belong to;
Before the employees arrive, it is best to photograph the location of the cars, the dent and other points, so that later, if a disagreement arises regarding the guilt of the motorist, you can protect your rights.

In this regard, many drivers try to resolve the issue amicably - they approximately estimate the amount of damage caused and the culprit compensates the victim immediately on the spot. Alternatively, he undertakes to cover the existing damage within a period of time specified by agreement. In any of these situations, it is best to take a receipt indicating no claims, an obligation to pay for damages, or acceptance of funds. Despite the fact that there is a verbal agreement, such situations can subsequently result in long legal proceedings with mutual accusations, when each party, having reviewed what happened, decided to dispute the guilt or the amount of damage.

If the car is scratched by minors or animals

What to do if your car is scratched by children or a dog? Here it will no longer be possible to classify what happened as an accident. In this case, CCTV cameras, which are installed in many courtyards, can help. Having determined who is directly responsible for the damage, it is worth presenting your claims.

If it is not possible to compensate for the damage, then you need to contact the judicial authority.

If the culprit escaped

What to do if other drivers scratched the car and drove away? Unfortunately, such situations are most typical for car damage in the courtyard of an apartment building. At the same time, it often happens that the owners saw the scratch or dent itself too late and it is almost impossible to find the culprit. In such a case, you should do the following:

Do not move the vehicle until the circumstances are clarified;
Call the traffic police;
Record through photography and video the location of the vehicle and the damage it received;
If the person responsible for causing the damage cannot be identified, try to obtain information about the CCTV cameras present.

This course of action, if the guilty person is discovered, can end very badly for him. This is due to the fact that it can be interpreted as hiding from the scene of an accident. As one of the punishment options, they can even apply deprivation of the right to drive a car for up to 1.5 years.

Is the case insurable?

A separate question in situations where a vehicle is scratched in the yard is whether this can be considered as an insured event. When answering such a question, it will be important what kind of insurance policy the victim and the perpetrator have (if one can be found).

Provided that the victim has a CASCO insurance policy, the specifics of contacting the insurance company to receive payment will be as follows:

The possibility of receiving an insurance payment will directly depend on how correctly the insured event is recorded;
Provided you have a valid CASCO policy, in any case you will have to call the traffic police. Only on the basis of their conclusion will the owner of the vehicle have the opportunity to apply for compensation;
Quite often, car owners do not think about the fact that not every damage to a vehicle can be considered as an insured event. To do this, even when signing the contract, you should discuss all possible situations that the car owner would like to include as an insured event and include them in the clause of the contract;
CASCO insurance contracts often contain such a clause as PDTL. It also includes a provision regarding damage to the vehicle. What is noteworthy is that insurance payment may be present both in the case of unintentional damage and in a situation where a certain person quite intentionally caused them;
It is important when drawing up an insurance contract to reflect the clause according to which, if damage is caused, the amount of which does not exceed 3% of the insured amount, do not resort to calling the traffic police. In such a situation, the motorist has the right to contact the insurance company directly, without having to call a traffic inspector to the scene of the accident;
An essential point is the need to notify the insurance company directly on the day the car was damaged - the date of filing the application and the drawn up traffic police report (if present) should not differ.

If you have compulsory motor liability insurance

Having an exclusive MTPL policy somewhat complicates the process of obtaining compensation. The problem is that it will be necessary to find the culprit and his guilt must be recognized (or proven). In such a situation, the insurance company will cover the damage. If the culprit is not found, unfortunately, the car owner will have to repair the car on his own.

Car damage in the yard is an unpleasant situation that motorists often encounter. Only compliance with the established procedure in accordance with traffic rules and the provisions of the insurance contract in such situations will help to identify the culprit and receive compensation for the damage received.

What to do if your car is scratched in the yard?

The essence of the problem

A car parked nearby, which was parked or, on the contrary, was leaving the yard, was scratched;
The vehicle was accidentally hit by children playing in the yard;
The car was scratched by a dog;
The car was damaged intentionally. In such situations, motorists most often find themselves who left their cars in “someone else’s place” or blocked the road with their vehicle.

What to do if your car is scratched

Despite this, there are quite a large number of conscious motorists who are willing to bear responsibility. However, in most cases they will not pay the injured party the amount of damage caused.

If the culprit did not escape

If the motorist who caused harm through his actions remained at the scene of the incident, then the following actions will need to be taken:

Find out the moment of presence of the guilty person;
If you have insurance, it is quite possible to formalize the situation according to the European Protocol - the threshold for the maximum payment amount has already been increased to 100 thousand rubles. Repairing a scratch will definitely cost that amount, and after contacting the insurance company, the injured party will receive compensation in kind - the service station will repair the damage at the expense of the policy;
If the amount of damage is determined to be more significant, since there is not a scratch, but a dent, or other parts of the vehicle are damaged, in this case it is worth calling the traffic police officers to record the accident, the category of which this situation will belong to;
Before the employees arrive, it is best to photograph the location of the cars, the dent and other points, so that later, if a disagreement arises regarding the guilt of the motorist, you can protect your rights.

If the car is scratched by minors or animals

If it is not possible to compensate for the damage, then you need to contact the judicial authority.

If the culprit escaped

Do not move the vehicle until the circumstances are clarified;
Call the traffic police;
Record through photography and video the location of the vehicle and the damage it received;
If the person responsible for causing the damage cannot be identified, try to obtain information about the CCTV cameras present.

Is the case insurable?

Provided that the victim has a CASCO insurance policy, the specifics of contacting the insurance company to receive payment will be as follows:

The possibility of receiving an insurance payment will directly depend on how correctly the insured event is recorded;
Provided you have a valid CASCO policy, in any case you will have to call the traffic police. Only on the basis of their conclusion will the owner of the vehicle have the opportunity to apply for compensation;
Quite often, car owners do not think about the fact that not every damage to a vehicle can be considered as an insured event. To do this, even when signing the contract, you should discuss all possible situations that the car owner would like to include as an insured event and include them in the clause of the contract;
CASCO insurance contracts often contain such a clause as PDTL. It also includes a provision regarding damage to the vehicle. What is noteworthy is that insurance payment may be present both in the case of unintentional damage and in a situation where a certain person quite intentionally caused them;
It is important when drawing up an insurance contract to reflect the clause according to which, if damage is caused, the amount of which does not exceed 3% of the insured amount, do not resort to calling the traffic police. In such a situation, the motorist has the right to contact the insurance company directly, without having to call a traffic inspector to the scene of the accident;
An essential point is the need to notify the insurance company directly on the day the car was damaged - the date of filing the application and the drawn up traffic police report (if present) should not differ.

If you have compulsory motor liability insurance

What to do if you scratched your car in the yard and drove away

Any car enthusiast who parks in the yard may be faced with a situation where he has to decide: “What to do if you scratched your car in the yard and drove away?”

The tightness of local parking lots, which are not designed for the ever-increasing number of vehicles, leads to common cases when you can find your “iron horse” with scratches, or even more serious damage.

The procedure for action in this situation depends on several nuances, based on which further steps should be planned.

Scratched your car in the yard: what to do

The actions of an owner who discovers damage (scratches, abrasions) on his car depend on several factors:

the specific location where the car was parked;
method of damage - another car or any object;
actions of the offender - he remained at the scene of the accident or disappeared and wished to remain anonymous.

It is necessary to call the traffic police only when the culprit remains at the scene of the accident, since in this case the fact of a traffic accident is recorded.

In such a situation, you need to act the same as if a standard accident had occurred:

you should call the traffic police;
find out if the culprit has an auto liability policy;
record the passport and contact details of the other party.

Even if the exit from the yard is blocked, you should not drive away from the scene of the accident and clear the passage, as this may be regarded as leaving the scene of the accident.

The parties can also agree on a monetary settlement for the person responsible for the accident on the spot, if the injured party is satisfied with the amount of compensation.

If the amount of damage is not large, and there were no casualties in the accident, then you can do without calling the traffic police and file an accident under the European Protocol.

A small scratch on the car body fits these criteria quite well. Then you need to photograph the cars, fill out an accident report and go to the traffic police yourself.

What to do if you scratched your car in the yard and drove away

A completely different situation arises when the fact of the damage received is obvious (or rather, on the body of the car), but the culprit is not at the scene of the incident.

Regardless of whether the damage shows signs of impact from another car or was caused by some object, you need to call the local police officer to draw up an administrative violation report.

If you have a CASCO policy, you must:

obtain a certificate from the local police officer regarding the damage received;
contact the insurance company within 5 days;
receive the necessary CASCO payments within up to 30 days.

If there is no CASCO policy, then you can only hope to catch the culprit of the accident, who will have to compensate the victim for the damage caused.

Despite the fact that in such a situation the search for the offender is the direct responsibility of law enforcement agencies, the owner of the car can also help the police and organize their own investigation.

Inspecting the damage received can help determine the color of the culprit’s car and its approximate dimensions.
Parked vehicles should be inspected for similar damage. It is possible that the culprit will be found without delay.
Parked cars with working DVRs can help in finding the culprit; recording from them will help identify the offender.
Video cameras installed above entrances or institutions located in the yard can also help. You must apply to the store or institution to request the video recording within 5 days, since after this time the recordings are deleted.
You can post notices on the entrances of your home and ask your neighbors. It is possible that one of the neighbors could have seen the moment of the accident.
You can contact your local car service center. Paint specialists can tell you if anyone has contacted them with a request to repair the corresponding damage to their car.

If you manage to find the potential culprit of the accident, you should contact the local police officer. The found culprit of a traffic accident faces not only full compensation for the damage caused, but also sanctions for leaving the scene of the accident.

According to the Code of Administrative Offenses, such actions are punishable by either administrative arrest or deprivation of a driver’s license for up to 1.5 years, and in the vast majority of cases, judges apply the latter penalty.

You need to act in a similar way when the damage was caused by unknown people out of hooligan motives, for example, they punctured the tires or scratched the car with a nail in the yard.

What to do in such a situation is described above: call the local police officer, record the damage and start searching for the culprit.

Helpful information

It is worth examining a situation where you are not the victim, but the involuntary culprit of what happened. It’s not difficult to imagine an unpleasant situation when, while driving, you scratched your car in the yard. Not everyone knows what to do in such a situation.

Under no circumstances should you leave the scene of an accident, as this can lead to negative consequences in the form of deprivation of your license. If you feel a collision or contact, you should:

find the owner of the car that was damaged due to your fault;
call the traffic police and file an accident;
If both car owners have auto liability policies, you can file an accident under the European Protocol without calling the inspection staff.

A completely different situation arises when you left the scene of the accident intentionally or because the contact was very small and happened unnoticed.

It is especially easy to get into such an accident in winter, when visibility is reduced. If you are found by the owner of the damaged car or a local police officer or traffic police officers, then Article 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation will apply to you.

In the event of a trial, there is an extremely high probability of being found guilty of leaving the scene of an accident, which threatens:

deprivation of rights up to 1.5 years;
administrative arrest.

Therefore, if you are found by the owner of a damaged car, the best way out would be to negotiate with him and pay for the damage privately.

If a trial is inevitable, then during the proceedings it is necessary to focus on the fact that the scene of the accident was left unintentionally, and you did not even suspect that the accident had occurred.

In this case, there is a small chance that the judge will believe your arguments and no punishment in the form of deprivation of rights or arrest will be imposed.

A significant part of drivers are ready to accept minor injuries, since it can be difficult to find the culprit and the damage is not great.

However, even a small scratch or abrasion is in any case an accident, the culprit of which must be punished.

In such a situation you need:

call the traffic police if the person responsible for the accident did not leave the scene of the accident;
call the local police officer if the culprit is absent;
start looking for the culprit.

In any of the above cases, the amount of damage is recorded, a certificate of which must be obtained from law enforcement officers called to the scene of the incident.

Also, you should not completely rely on police officers to find the culprit in the incident, since the district police officer is usually busy with work, and a small yard accident is not the most serious matter.

So the car owner will have to largely rely on his own strength in finding the culprit of the damage received.

The car was scratched in the yard. What to do?

Damage to a car in the courtyard of a house is a common problem for motorists, especially in megacities, where the number of vehicles exceeds the number of parking spaces near residential buildings. Causing damage looks different: it can be an accidental mechanical impact on the bumper or hood due to the carelessness of another driver, or deliberate damage to movable property.

Regardless of the circumstances, the fact is unpleasant and requires compensation from the perpetrator. If you find yourself in such a situation, act consistently and in the manner required by law, thanks to which you will be able to restore the appearance of the car and moral damage, while keeping money in your wallet.

What to do first?

Artificially caused scratches and chips on a car spoil its exterior. The same nuances apply to a traffic accident in a backyard, requiring the drawing up of a protocol according to the rules.

Usually, owners do not immediately notice that their car has been scratched. A slight damage or flaw in a poorly visible place can leave the real culprits of the crime unanswered. For example, boys played in the yard with sharp metal objects, after which thin but deep marks appeared on the hood. Or, when leaving the yard, a neighbor inadvertently touched the back of the car, causing the paint to come off. There are a lot of damage scenarios. The main thing here is to take all measures in time to receive fair compensation.

If you witness damage to your car or notice scratches as soon as you are about to drive it out , reschedule your plans and don’t move. The step-by-step action plan can be presented as follows:

Carefully inspect the object for additional damage that has not occurred since the last time the vehicle was used.
Take high-quality pictures of scratches with your phone from different angles (including close-ups), numbers and panoramas.
Call the local police officer to the scene to draw up a report.
Take contact information from witnesses, if there are any, interview them yourself.
Try to resolve the incident peacefully with the culprit if he is willing to negotiate before the police arrive.

What to do if the culprit remains at the scene of the accident?

The law does not define as insured events those traffic accidents that occurred due to the fault of an animal, bad weather conditions or mechanical damage (a piece of the roof fell on the hood, the side of the stroller was damaged, the glass cracked under the window where the car was parked). It’s a different matter when a person became a participant in the incident, and his vehicle was in motion.

jointly draw up a European protocol - a form for notification of an accident, in which there is no need to involve the traffic police;
send documents to the insurance company to receive money to restore the external attractiveness of the vehicle;
if the culprit does not have a policy, wait for the police to arrive so that a specialist can conduct an examination of the damage caused and name the amount of compensation.

Actions if the culprit has escaped

In nine cases out of ten, the culprit of an accident flees the scene. The driver might not have noticed that he had scratched someone’s car and gone about his business. If the damage is insignificant, the injured party will prefer not to start a legal process, will leave everything as it is and, most likely, will spend personal savings on correcting someone else’s mistake, that is, on repairs.

However, impressive traces of scratches evoke a burning desire to deal with the pest and its actions. Of course, it is difficult to find the culprit without the support of eyewitnesses; it is impossible to do without legal representatives and their methods of finding out the truth.

call the local police officer and tell him in detail what happened (the more facts are recorded on paper, the greater the chances of quickly catching the “fugitive”);
capture all scratches and surroundings on your smartphone;
provide the police with telephone numbers of witnesses, if available;
walk around the area and ask the employees of a service station, car wash or car service, whether among the clients was one whose car needed painting or minor repairs;
Post a notice on the board asking eyewitnesses of the accident to respond.

It is foolish to expect luck and instant police capture of the pest. If he still hasn't appeared on his own, perhaps he doesn't know what he did or doesn't want to take responsibility for what he did.

One thing saves: the facelessness of the second participant is not a basis for refusal to provide compensation by insurers. To receive money for repairs, you will need to provide the company with the appropriate package of documents. If the identity of the driver who scratched your car is established, an orientation will be distributed to all posts. Next, he will be summoned to a trial, where his guilt will be recognized and the punishment announced.

Statute of limitations

An unlawful act against a vehicle that was located at the time of damage is subject to a statute of limitations. In other words, if the guilty person fled, did not leave a note with a phone number and was not caught by the police, then after three months he is completely released from responsibility for paying monetary compensation. After 90 days , they will stop looking for the pest, and the claim for causing material damage will no longer be valid. However, in practice, there is one nuance that says that a state inspector can remove the culprit from the search, and if the authorized officer has not yet done this, then there is a chance to request a financial refund for moral damages when the other party is caught, even after many years.

Is a road accident considered an insured event?

Looking at the statistics of insurance cases, we can safely say that insurance companies often cover the risks of illegal actions of third parties that are associated with minor damage, including chips and scratches, that occurred in the yard and do not require major repairs.

The insurance contract often includes a condition for storing the car at a specific time of day. If the car was supposed to be in a protected area at night, but in fact it was parked in the yard, your insurance claim will simply not be considered. Otherwise you will need:

contact the traffic police in case of large-scale damage;
write a statement, participate in drawing up a police report, and then carefully read what is written;
obtain a certificate of a traffic accident, a copy of the protocol and form No. 31 (also provide a technical passport, identity card and license).

With this package of documents, CASCO registers your application. In addition, insurers make payments faster if the requested compensation does not exceed 3% of the policy amount.

Here everything is more complicated, since the insurance company will accept documents only if there is a guilty party. If the wrecker escapes, OSAGO will refuse compensation and the car will have to be repaired at its own expense. Persistent motorists are conducting their own investigation - interviewing witnesses, asking for a copy of the video from neighboring institutions, looking for the driver by the paint left on the body.

identification;
copy of the technical passport;
OSAGO policy;
notification of a traffic accident.

What to do if you are the culprit of an accident

Scratches on someone else's car in the yard can occur due to your carelessness. In order to reduce the degree of punishment, it is better to leave your mobile number under the wipers if the owner is not around.

Thus, you will not be found guilty, and your actions will not be called intentional, even if you left the scene in a hurry. Be on the safe side and take a photo of the note left behind. Otherwise, the procedure is no different - from calling an inspector to submitting documents to the insurance company.

Legal advice

Public access is replete with questions from civilians who find themselves in a situation where either their car was scratched in the yard, or they themselves were the culprits of the accident. The answers of professional lawyers are limited to considering each case on an individual basis, taking into account the details. However, general recommendations contain advice of the following nature:

if the damage to the vehicle is small, it is better to draw up a European protocol with the other party without involving the police;
calling the traffic police is mandatory when the car is badly damaged and the culprit left for unknown reasons;
To quickly resolve the problem, the owner needs to make his own efforts to find the pest - find witnesses, get copies of video recordings, provide the police with useful and reliable information.

With a competent approach to registration of an accident, the car owner will protect himself from unexpected financial expenses and restore the appearance of the vehicle without nerves.

Criminal lawyer. Experience in this direction since 2006.

What to do if your car is scratched in the yard or in the parking lot?

Statistics of insurance cases show that the largest number of insurance compensation payments under comprehensive insurance occurs in cases with minor damage, minor damage caused to the car in an accident. Such cases include the car getting chips, scratches and other damage in parking lots, in courtyards, and on the roadway. What should the policyholder do if minor damage was not discovered immediately? How to get comprehensive insurance for a scratch? What to do in cases where the culprit disappeared or remained at the scene of the accident? What to do if damage to the car was caused by a pedestrian or child? We will answer these questions in this article.

Procedure

In 2018 (data as of September), on the territory of the Russian Federation, traffic police officers drew up more than 119 thousand reports on road accidents and accidents of varying severity. Road traffic accidents are not always serious. This can be minor damage, chips, scratches and other things that do not require expensive repairs. Therefore, every driver insured under comprehensive insurance or compulsory motor liability insurance needs to know what to do if the car is scratched in a parking lot, in the courtyard of a house, on the roadway, that is, minor damage was caused in an accident. The procedure in such situations is as follows:

Call the traffic police.
Immediately call the insurance company with a detailed explanation of the causes and nature of the damage.
Provide the insurance company with a passport, a comprehensive insurance contract, a driver’s license of the person driving the insured car, and if the other party was involved in an accident, the same information about the culprit.
Undergo an expert assessment to obtain an opinion on the need for a certificate from the traffic police.
Request a referral for repair work or insurance compensation.

In order to understand what kind of repair or payment you can count on, you need to read the text of the comprehensive insurance contract, which describes the cases and the amount of payments in a given situation. It will not be possible to obtain insurance if the driver driving the car was not included in the policy; if the policyholder left the scene of the accident; if the person driving the car was under the influence of alcohol, drugs or toxic substances; if the policy owner caused intentional damage to the insured property in order to obtain insurance; if the insured event occurred outside the region where the insurance policy is valid, if the car was scratched in the parking lot, and this type of risk is not taken into account in the contract, etc. If scratches and minor damage were discovered on the same day, there are two scenarios:

The culprit has not been identified - in this situation, failure to contact the police department and draw up a report may result in a refusal to pay insurance funds under comprehensive insurance. The first thing to do in this situation is to call the traffic police if the policyholder is sure that the damage was caused by another vehicle, or to report hooliganism to law enforcement (precinct) if a pedestrian scratched the car. If there are supporting certificates from the traffic police or from law enforcement agencies, compensation for damage occurs in accordance with the terms of the comprehensive insurance agreement, as in the case of the identified culprit of the incident.
The culprit was found at the scene of the accident or identified using video recordings/witness testimony. If the culprit who damaged the car has been found, then to apply for and receive compensation, the policyholder must contact his insurance company with a package of documents, the list of which includes: passport, technical passport, driver’s driving license, comprehensive insurance policy, certificate from the traffic police etc.

If the comprehensive insurance agreement contains special conditions for minor damage, then certificates from the traffic police and law enforcement agencies may not be needed. The insurance company has the right to claim in the event that the culprit of the damage is identified, i.e. has the right to file a lawsuit against the guilty party to recover funds spent on repairing the insured vehicle.

Very often, in parking lots and in the courtyards of residential buildings, problems arise in the form of something falling on the roof and hood of a car (trees, garbage), being hit by a neighbor’s car while parking, as well as damage to the car by minor children. What should the policyholder do in a situation where his car was damaged in the yard by a minor child who was “caught in the act”? If the car owner did not have a comprehensive insurance policy, he would have to face a long procedure for obtaining insurance from the minor’s parents. If you have a comprehensive insurance policy, the policyholder only needs:

Contact SK.
It is impossible to write a statement to the police if you can’t judge the insignificance of the scratches at first glance.

Without documents from the police, the insurer may refuse to pay out insurance funds. Otherwise, the registration procedure in a situation where children scratched the car will remain the same as those described earlier. If a car is scratched in a parking lot, the driver’s actions should also be carried out according to the described scheme: traffic police - insurance company - provision of documents and certificates - examination or inspection of the vehicle - receipt of monetary compensation or referral for free repairs.

If you scratched it yourself

If the car owner himself scratched the car, he should stay at the scene of the accident, record the nature of the damage on a photo or video camera, and call the traffic police or emergency commissioners who will take care of the paperwork. The latter do not work for free. It is also necessary to report the incident to the insurer and wait for his comments. Whether the insurance company will call this case insurable will depend on the terms of the contract.

The comprehensive insurance contract usually specifies if there is damage to what amount or how many elements, calling the traffic police is not required. If the driver scratched the bumper on a curb in the yard or with tree branches, that is, caused minimal damage to the car, a certificate from the traffic police may not be needed. But it is better to get a comment on this issue from your insurer.

If the culprit escaped

If a car owner discovers damage to his car, but the culprit is not nearby, he needs to call the traffic police or a local police officer. Inspectors are called if damage was caused by another car while driving (parking); the district police officer must be called if there are illegal actions or accidental damage caused by pedestrians, children or animals. To find out exactly how the damage was caused, the driver of the damaged car can:

Find witnesses who saw who damaged the car;
View the DVR recording, including neighboring cars;
View recordings from CCTV cameras located in the yard and parking lot.

After calling the employee, the car owner must inform the insurer about the incident and follow the recommendations of the insurance company employee. There is no point in driving the car away; a policeman or inspector will have to record everything in the protocol, study the scene of the accident in order to look for the culprit without delay.

Finding the culprit

The car owner will be able to independently find the culprit if records of the incident remain on the DVR of neighboring cars. He can post a wanted notice on social networks, print it out and hang it up on the entrances of nearby houses, and ask nearby car repair shops if anyone has come in with similar damage to their car for painting.

If there are witnesses to how the car was scratched - someone could remember the license plate, someone could remember the color of the car, someone could know the culprit personally, then what happens next is in the hands of the police. An employee will be able to find the owner from the database, knowing the car number. If none of these methods work, it may take several months to find who caused the damage - the maximum search period is 3 months, provided that no harm was caused. If there were victims, then the search for the culprit will not be limited by any time frame.

Statute of limitations

The driver can go to court for help within 2 years from the date of discovery of the damage. That is, the statute of limitations begins to be calculated not from the moment the damage is caused, but from the moment the insured discovers this damage and reports it to the insurer. This period is specified in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Article 966). The court, based on a written request from the car owner, may increase the period if there are reasons for doing so.

To avoid being denied compensation, the policyholder must contact his insurance company within 24 hours of discovering the scratch. Within 5 days, he must provide all documents required under the insurance contract to the insurer's office. If these deadlines are missed, the company may refuse to compensate for the damage, and then it will have to defend its rights in court.

Is a scratch an insured event?

Scratches on a comprehensive insurance policy may or may not be called an insured event. Such points are specified in the contract when it is concluded. Much depends on the comprehensive insurance program under which the car is insured - if this insurance is only for the risk of “theft”, then you should not count on insurance payments. The decision will be made after an examination to be carried out by the insurer. The car owner can independently turn to independent experts in order to have evidence and documents in case the company refuses payments or free car repairs at a service station.

If the car is insured only under compulsory motor liability insurance, and the culprit of the accident has escaped or does not have a valid policy, then it will not be possible to receive compensation from the insurer. Under compulsory motor liability insurance, only the civil liability of the culprit is insured - if there is no liability, then there is no payment. If the culprit is the driver himself, then compulsory motor liability insurance will not help him - compensation for repairs will only be due to the victim of the accident.

Is it possible to leave the scene of the incident?

You cannot leave the scene of the incident until the traffic police or police arrive. If the car owner leaves after an accident, he, in accordance with Article 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, will face deprivation of rights for up to 1.5 years or administrative arrest for up to 15 days. The only reason for leaving the scene of an accident may be to provide assistance to the victims - delivery to a medical facility. When writing an application to the Investigative Committee, you need to give detailed comments on the situation with leaving the scene of the accident.

If a car blocks a passage and interferes with the movement of other cars due to an accident, the driver must record all damage to the vehicle, its position on the road relative to other cars, and only then drive the car to the side of the road. If you do not document the position of the car, then the police or traffic police will not be able to note in the protocol its exact location, details of the accident, etc., which may be the reason for refusal of compensation from the insurance company.

Conclusion

The owner of a comprehensive insurance policy should not act rashly in the event of any damage to the car, even minor damage. You need to make a contingency plan and follow it, or call your insurance company for detailed instructions. If all the requirements specified in the comprehensive insurance agreement are met and after the application is written, the policyholder will receive all due compensation in a timely manner and in full.