What should you consider when choosing a car insurance company and concluding a contract? Lawyer and civil rights specialist Gvantsa Zhorzholiani spoke on the issues in air of the radio station Commersant.
“The insurance system and insurance contract are one of the most complex contracts in people’s everyday life.
The first thing you should pay attention to is to look at the amount of the insurance premium. (An insurance premium is the amount of money that you pay for an insurance policy ). But we should take into account the factor when we are not satisfied with the insurance company and want to terminate the contract with it. Do we have the right to terminate the contract early, and whether the advance insurance premium is refunded in case of a one-time payment?
What should citizens pay attention to: firstly, in practice, I often that those who wish to take advantage of an insurance contract pay the insured amount in one lump sum but after some time, when they are not satisfied with the services, they want to terminate the contract. In this case, the insurance company often refuses to return the amount (premium) paid in advance.
Secondly: take everything into account, for example, what bureaucratic procedures you have to go through after a car accident to compensate for the damage. In many cases, those who want to buy insurance only sign a contract, find out how much insurance is to be paid, whether there is franchising (the amount that the insurance will not refund under any circumstances), and considering these facts they buy an insurance package.
We need to know in which cases damages are refunded and in which they aren't subject to refund. For example, a natural disaster. The insurance agent tells us that he will cover all types of natural disasters such as rain, earthquake, etc. But, the company will not pay compensation for the losses due to force majeure, for example, if the car is damaged due to hail. Thus, citizens should review and read the contract carefully, including what force majeure is and what not,” Gvantsa Zhorzholiani notes.
The lawyer also answered questions from listeners in the program and considered the examples of insurance cases.
A balloon filled with water, which a child dropped from a high floor, fell on a car parked in the yard. The roof of the car was completely bent. Both the patrol police and the insurance company spent several days discussing whether it could bend the roof. In that case, is it so important what damaged the car? Or how long will it take the insurance company to decide whether to cover the loss or not?
“In my practice, I had an insurance contract that provided compensation to a car damaged by falling objects, if the object did not fall above the fourth floor. If the object fell from a floor above the fourth, the loss will not be reimbursed. Therefore, we should read the contract and discuss exceptions. In answer to the question, I’d like to point out that the insurance company has 30 calendar days to decide whether to compensate for losses or not. If even in this case the damage is not compensated, you should contact the insurance supervision service,” Gvantsa Zhorzholiani says answering the listener's question.
What should you do if an insured event occurs? How does a driver behave in this case? What's the plan of action?
“If a traffic accident occurs, the first thing we have to do is to call the patrol police; Secondly, to notify the insurance company and not to move the car. There are frequent cases when during a traffic accident, the car is moved not to disrupt traffic or create a traffic jam. Here’s the biggest problem. The insurance company will act in accordance with the policy and offers signed between a citizen and the insurance company. If you were not compensated for damage as a result of a traffic accident, you have 30 days to file a claim.
After this we’ll apply to the supervisory service. In Georgia, we have insurance mediation to resolve disputes with insurers. Their services are also free. If we go through all this and do not achieve a result, then we should go to court,” the lawyer explians.
In Gvantsa Zhorzholiani’s words, all insurance companies have individual conditions and offers.
“This is not a standard contract. You can negotiate with the company and create individual conditions. The most important thing is that citizens should not blindly trust agents who want to sell a well-packaged product. In any case, the contract should be requested in advance and only then signed.
For example: you insure a car for 500 GEL and this amount is the insurance premium for one year. After 6 months, you realize that don't like the services of the insurance company and want to terminate the contract. You have the right to get back the insurance premium in the amount of 250 GEL (for the next 6 months). But, in practice, we often have cases when under the contract the amount is not returned in case of its premature termination," Gvantsa Zhorzholiani stresses.
I scratched the car, the insurance company transferred an amount to me, I took it to be repaired. The master puttied a car and set a time for painting but that same evening on the same door, in the same place, my car was damaged. The insurance company told me that since it was already damaged and in the same place, on the same door, they would not compensate. What leverage do I have in this case?
According to the lawyer, the main lever is the contract concluded between the person and the insurance company. “An insurance company has no right to offer a limited range of services. Each case is individual, so it does not matter to the insurance company whether it occurred during this period, happened later or damaged the same place on the car again. The insurance company is liable as many times as the number of times the incident was recorded, depending on its contractual and obligatory part,” the lawyer notes.
