When deciding which of the insurance companies to conclude an OSAGO agreement with, the owner of the vehicle should not lose sight of the opportunity to apply to several organizations at once. The preparation and execution of clauses of the contract in this case have their characteristics associated with an increase in the number of participants in the relationship and the distribution of responsibility between them. This method of vehicle insurance is established by Art. 953 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and is called coinsurance.
What is meant by the term “co-insurance” in OSAGO? What are the features of the use of coinsurance in practice? What legal documents regulate the use of co-insurance in OSAGO? What nuances should a car owner take into account when choosing this type of insurance? We will answer these questions in this article.
What is co-insurance?
If necessary, the insured may conclude an OSAGO agreement with several companies that have licenses to carry out insurance activities. In this case, the following conditions must be met:
- one person can act as the insured;
- the object of insurance must be one;
- the relationship between the insured and the insurers must be formalized by one contract;
- there may be several insurers;
- the contract is concluded in respect of one insured risk.
Features of co-insurance
The co-insurance contract takes into account, first of all, the conditions of the insurer, which assumes the largest share of responsibility to the insured. Such an insurer is in the lead, and the others follow. Insurers have the right to choose one representative from their circle who will conduct business on behalf of all others. In this case, it is necessary to draw up an appropriate power of attorney and properly certify it.
At the time of the occurrence of an insured event, it is the chosen representative who assumes all the rights and obligations of the insurer under the contract. Of course, this does not mean that the payment of compensation for the damage caused will be entrusted to the authorized company: if the contract does not separately indicate the obligations of each of the insurers, all companies are jointly and severally liable to the insured. In other words, the owner of the vehicle, acting as the insured, upon the occurrence of an insured event, may demand compensation for losses not only from the leading or authorized insurer, but also from each of the insurance companies participating in the conclusion of the contract.
Representatives of insurance companies have the opportunity to indicate in the contract what share of responsibility each of them assumes. For example, one company takes 50%, the second – 30%, the third – 20%. As a result, one of the insurers who has assumed large obligations is also entitled to the appropriate amount of insurance premium, which is divided in the same proportions as the degree of responsibility. If the contract does not specify the percentage of assumed obligations, it is considered that all insurers bear equal responsibility for compliance with the clauses of the contract.
The distribution of liability between insurance companies can be secured not only by an insurance contract, but also by a separately drawn up agreement on joint activities. It should be remembered, however, that regardless of the method of registration of relations between the parties to the agreement, insurers in any case bear joint and several liability, and not shared responsibility. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides that the insurer can equally apply for compensation both to the leading company and to all the others.
If one of the insurers has fulfilled its insurance obligations in full, it has the right to demand regressive payments from the other co-insurers in the amount stipulated by the contract.
Conclusion
In general, the initiator of co-insurance can be both an insured who doubts the reliability of protection offered by one insurance company and, for the sake of fidelity, invites other companies to participate, and an insurer who is uncertain that he will be able to independently fulfill insurance obligations. Coinsurance aims to increase the degree of protection of the insured (beneficiary) and expand the capabilities of insurers: together it is always easier to solve emerging problems. In addition, the development of industrial cooperation between insurance companies can be considered as a result of co-insurance.
