Five or six years ago, when car insurance in Ukraine was just gaining momentum and "getting on its feet", the main problem was to find the most acceptable insurance conditions. Clients were looking for the lowest tariff, a small franchise, loyal conditions. Often the search process ended with recommendations from acquaintances who had already insured their cars in one company or another. At the same time, only a few thought about how to get an insurance payment, where the car will be repaired.
Now it is 2004. The situation on the insurance market has changed significantly. Companies have accumulated significant reserves and experience, began to work more professionally. Some now have a large service infrastructure, including their own service stations.
Today, customers are increasingly interested in the size of insurance rates and deductibles, payment terms, damage calculation procedure and possible repair options. The requirements of car owners to insurance companies are becoming more specific and targeted.
One of the most important aspects of car insurance is the assessment of the damage caused to the car and its repair.
Ukrainian insurance companies use various methods of damage calculation. But all of them boil down to assessing the damage caused to the car as correctly as possible and paying the Insured the amount necessary for the repair. Usually deductible from these funds is the deductible (the amount that the insurance company withholds when reimbursed) and the amount of wear and tear of replacement parts (if the car is insured taking into account wear and tear). The remaining money is paid to the Insured.
But sometimes there are cases when the calculated amount for repairs is clearly not enough. To avoid such a situation, it is necessary to carefully read the options for calculating damages offered by the insurance company.
In Ukrainian practice, there are three calculation options:
1. Calculation of damage according to auto-merchandising expertise. In this case, the insurance company engages an independent expert who assesses the damage caused. At the same time, any expert is guided by the Regulations of the Ministry of Justice on conducting a forensic auto-merchandise examination, which provides a methodology for calculating the cost of a car, wear, damage, etc. In addition, experts use software (for example, the Audatex software product), with which the time required to repair this damage and the cost of spare parts are calculated. The cost of a standard hour is taken from service stations that are part of the UkrAvto corporation.
2. Calculation of damage at the rates of service stations offered by the insurer. In this case, the assessment of damage is carried out by specialists of service stations with which the insurance company works. As a rule, these are professional service stations of an average level, guaranteeing both the insurer and the Insured average prices and high quality of work (at branded service stations, the repair amount can be several times higher). In this case, the service station is chosen by the insurance company, but this is also beneficial for the client, since the service station is also interested in long-term cooperation with the company. Hence the high quality of work performed.
3. This option gives you the opportunity to choose the service station yourself, at the rates of which the damage will be calculated. This is especially true for new cars that are under warranty service, which are required to undergo any maintenance and repair only at the service stations indicated in the warranty card. The insurance company will evaluate the damage at the rates of this service station without raising the rate. If your car is not under warranty service of a branded service station, but you would like to do repairs there, then you will have to pay extra, because when calculating the damage, the expert will proceed from the prices of this service station.
The considered calculation options are used to determine the amount of insurance compensation. The issue of repair rests with the owner of the car. Based on the proposed calculation options, the following methods of paying insurance compensation for car repairs are possible ...