Insurance payout in 15 days

To make sure you actually receive your payout within the established time limits, it is important to follow these rules:

1. All dealings with the insurance company must be documented "on paper".
This means that all documents you submit and all applications you write must be handed over against a signature, registered, and you should keep copies of the documents marked with the date of their acceptance.
If you later have problems receiving the payout, it will be difficult for you to prove your case. Your verbal statements that you did "everything on time and properly" will not be considered a weighty argument.
If the insurance company does not give you a receipt confirming acceptance of the documents, as the law requires it to, this is the first sign that you may face difficulties in getting the money.

2. The injured party must write an application about the road accident, additionally stating the location of the car
Even if the person at fault has already written an application reporting the accident, it is advisable for you to duplicate the application. In this application you must state where the damaged car is located and at which telephone numbers the insurance company can contact you.
You can obtain a sample of such an application from a legal consultant.

One of the formal grounds for refusing an insurance payout is accusing the injured party of hiding the car from the insurance company and not allowing it to assess the damage. To rule out this possibility, you must write and register an application for inspection, stating the exact location of the car.
And one more nuance. In accordance with the law, the insurance company's representatives must arrange the inspection of your car themselves. If your car cannot be driven, it is not your duty to deliver it to the insurance company for damage assessment. This is the insurance company's obligation. You must keep the car in its post-accident condition and not obstruct the inspection.
If the insurance company does not inspect your car within 7 working days*, you are entitled to contact an independent expert, and the insurance company loses the right to challenge that assessment.
Thus, an application for inspection spares you from having to repeatedly contact the insurance company asking to be put in the queue for inspection, and protects your interests.

* note: this period is counted from the moment all the necessary documents are submitted to the insurance company (a full list of such documents can be obtained from a lawyer or an insurance broker listed in the association's registry).

3. It is important to obtain a certificate from the insurance company listing the documents you have submitted.
You can obtain a sample of such a certificate from a legal consultant. If both you and the party at fault have submitted all the necessary documents, the insurance company must inspect your car within 7 working days, inform you of the assessment and make the insurance payout within 15 working days.

Insurance companies often say: you have brought all the necessary documents, and you will hand in the policy when the payout is made. In legal terms this means: formally the list of documents is incomplete (the policy is missing), so the 15-day payout period has not yet started, and therefore the injured party will not be able to prove that the insurance company delayed the payout.
Another situation. The insurance company does not refuse to pay, but suggests waiting a little because there are very many accidents. It is fine if the injured party can postpone the car repair for 2-3 weeks or a month, but what if the car is badly needed?
If you have a certificate listing all the documents submitted and the date of their acceptance, the payout must be made within the established time limits. A high accident rate or a shortage of staff is not a valid excuse for the insurance company.

4. You may start repairing the car only after you have been given a written report stating the exact payout amount.
Even if you have been told the payout amount verbally and it suits you, you should still not start repairing the car until you have been given the official inspection report or the insurance payout has been made. Even if you are on good terms with the staff of this insurance company, you need stronger guarantees than verbal promises.

SO, LET US SUM UP.
The insurance company must make the payout within 15 working days after you and the person at fault have submitted all the necessary documents.
When submitting documents to the insurance company, you must always obtain confirmation of which documents were submitted and when.
The insurance company is responsible for arranging the inspection of your car, including travelling to the location of the damaged vehicle; your task is not to obstruct the inspection. The inspection must be carried out within 7 working days after you or the person at fault have submitted to the insurance company a document confirming the occurrence of the insured event. Such a document is the decision of the traffic police (court). The insurance company must provide you with the results of the inspection (the damage report) for review.
To deprive the insurance company of the opportunity to refuse the payout on the grounds that you did not present the car for assessment, be sure to write an application for inspection.
If you and the person at fault submitted the full list of documents immediately after the official decision of the traffic police (court) was issued, the insurance company must manage both to carry out the inspection and to pay you the money within the period established by law.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS...

1. The insurance company will not accept the application and says it must be written by the person at fault. What should I do?

In accordance with the law, the application may be submitted either by the person at fault or by the injured party. If the insurance company violates the law and refuses to accept the application, you can do the following:
a) ask a legal consultant for extracts from the Law "On Compulsory Insurance of Civil Liability of Vehicle Owners", show this document at the insurance company and ask the insurance company to explain why it is violating your rights;
b) send the application by registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt (or send a telegram with acknowledgement of receipt);
c) hand the application to the office manager rather than to an employee of the claims department. The office manager is obliged to register all incoming correspondence, so they will put an incoming number and the insurance company's stamp on your copy of the application.

2. The insurance company does not issue a receipt for the documents. What should I do?

A receipt for the documents is a very important document. If the insurance company does not give you such a receipt, you can do the following:
a) ask a legal consultant for the relevant extracts from the legislation, show this document at the insurance company and ask the insurance company to explain why it is violating your rights;
b) send all the documents by post, through the Main Post Office, by registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt and a detailed inventory of the enclosed documents. Delivery by post will take some time, but it will allow you to later prove with documents that you did everything required of you, and the insurance company will have no way out.

3. What should I do if the insurance company does not state the amount of damage and does not issue an inspection report?

In accordance with the law, the insurance company is obliged to give you an inspection report (you can obtain the relevant extracts from the law from a legal consultant). You can also write an official application asking to be informed of the inspection results (a sample application can also be obtained from a legal consultant).
If the insurance company does not state the amount of damage and does not make the insurance payout on time, in most cases the most effective way to resolve the problem is to take the case to court. You can find out about the time frames for court proceedings from a legal consultant.

4. The insurance company is ready to pay me, but I do not agree with the amount. I was told that if I accept the money, I will not be able to claim anything afterwards. Is this true?

The insurance company is obliged to make the insurance payout within 15 days, at least in the amount it considers necessary.
If you have received this money from the insurance company, it does NOT mean that you agree with the payout amount and have no right to make claims. It only means that the insurance company has fulfilled part of its obligations to you (you can obtain the relevant references and extracts from the law from a legal consultant). Therefore, you can safely take the part of the money the insurance company offers you and then deal with obtaining the outstanding amount.

5. What should I do if the person at fault does not hand in the insurance policy?

The insurance policy is on the list of mandatory documents required for the insurance payout. If the person at fault does not provide the insurance policy, the payout will not be made.
If the person at fault does not voluntarily agree to restore your car and does not want to hand over the insurance policy, the matter will most likely be resolved in court. Before submitting the documents to court, you need to make sure that the person at fault is solvent.

6. Why should I do everything myself instead of the person at fault?

In accordance with the law, the injured party has no obligations, only rights. However, these rights state that the injured party is entitled to collect the documents, write applications, etc. instead of the person at fault. Therefore, in practice the injured party's "rights" often turn into "obligations".