Adjustment for the crisis: CNC insurance Casco and third party liability insurance OSAGO will no longer be the same

Yekaterina Maksimova

Casco* is very outdated, “try on” a new one

Due to problems with auto parts, insurers began to adjust contracts and “play” with wordings that are unlikely to please owners of comprehensive insurance policies.

As several insurance agents confirmed to Novye Izvestia at once, one of the major insurers has already begun to introduce know-how. And this is being done without publicity.

From the printed form of the policy, the mention of the repair of a broken car at official dealers disappeared (and 90% of the dealers' workload was provided precisely by motor hull insurers). Additional restrictions on the terms of repair have been established (the delivery time for spare parts is excluded from the total repair period). Also, the owners of "injured" cars need to prepare for the fact that "if it is not possible to organize the restoration of the vehicle, then the insurance compensation is paid in cash, according to the calculation of the insurer". That is, the owner of the car will receive "three kopecks".

“I can't name the insurance company (hereinafter - IC) that has already sent new formulations, but it is one of the largest players in the market. And not for self-interest, they went for it, but because the situation was a stalemate. I work with several ICs and I know that many want to adjust the conditions in the same way. This is being actively discussed”, - said the agent, who requested anonymity.

SK are forced to change shoes in the air due to a shortage of spare parts and the unpredictability of the timing of repairs (some car owners now wait for their turn for months).

“The following situation has become typical: the insurance company agreed on everything, but the service station replies that it was not possible to purchase the part at this price, it has risen in price upon delivery. Everything has to be re-arranged. And so several times. This time. Or even in the process of coordination it turns out that the necessary spare parts are not available. Sanctions do not release insurers from their obligations. We don’t need a flurry of lawsuits from clients”, - the agent shares the details of working in the new conditions.

Another interlocutor clarifies: “Such a settlement option as a repair at an authorized dealer remains a priority for hull insurance. And only if we receive information from the dealer about the lack of spare parts and the impossibility of ordering them, we will offer customers to receive a refund in cash”.

Motorists who got into a serious accident were doubly unlucky if the contract with the insurance company was concluded at the prices of 2021. The amounts in these documents, to put it mildly, do not fit into the current market.

In case of “casco going to the total” (the cost of restoring a damaged car exceeds 65% of its insurance amount), the client receives a payment, but strictly within the policy. You can hardly buy a new car of the same class for “last year's” money. Cars in Russia, when compared with the pre-crisis period, have risen in price by 43%. Such data is provided by Avto.ru analysts.

For obligatory “autocitizenship”, repair limits will be raised by 30%

On the arena of the OSAGO** market, there are still the same problems of the automotive industry: a shortage of spare parts and a fleeting increase in prices for parts.

The cost of repair work under the OSAGO policy, we recall, is fixed by prices from a special directory. Against the backdrop of recent geopolitical events, this price register has become almost nothing.

“Payments are made according to the average cost guides put into effect on March 19, 2022, which actually do not reflect the sharp increase in the cost of spare parts and problems with their logistics,” the Russian Union of Auto Insurers (RSA) said.

From June 19, updated reference books will come into force. The documentation is currently being reviewed.

At the request of Novye Izvestia, the PCA clarified that the cost of the “basket of frequently breaking spare parts”, calculated according to the draft spare parts guides, increased by 28.7% compared to the previous version of the document.

“This growth corresponds to the estimates of automotive experts, who estimated an increase in the cost of spare parts in April-May of this year by about 30%. The new prices in the directories reflect the situation that has developed with the prices of spare parts after a number of automakers from “unfriendly” countries left Russia. The growth of these prices, of course, will also lead to an increase in payments for OSAGO, ”the RSA commented.

In the meantime, the insurance agents we interviewed tell the same type of stories: after an accident, a car under an OSAGO contract must go for repairs. And the current price lists of auto repair shops do not compete with the prices from the directory, approved in early spring. Or the necessary auto parts at the service station, again, are simply not there. Therefore, the UK, in order to fit into the terms of the settlement of the loss, has recently preferred calculation, that is, payment in cash. Whether this is beneficial for motorists is a rhetorical question.

The Russian Union of Motor Insurers confirms the trend with ruble compensation, but specifies: “The PCA does not record a noticeable increase in complaints for these reasons from car owners”.

It is worth noting that the average payment for OSAGO in May 2022 increased by 13% or 8.5 thousand rubles - from 66,328 rubles to 74,806 rubles. This was stated in the PCA, comparing with payments in May last year.

Yevgeny Ufimtsev, Vice-President of the All-Russian Union of Insurers (VVS), Executive Director of the Russian Union of Motor Insurers, said earlier that it would be wrong to raise rates for OSAGO, the main product in the insurance line. “It would seem that due to the rise in prices for parts and the shortage of a number of spare parts, the insurance premium should have been raised. But it seems to me that now to tell people that they will have to pay more for OSAGO is not entirely true. The frequency of losses is only 5%, and the increase in the cost of the policy will affect 100% of car owners”, - Ufimtsev reassured.

* Casco - comprehensive and collision car insurance

** OSAGO - third party liability insurance