Legal advice

I’ve been involved in a road traffic accident which wasn’t my fault. My car was crashed so I turned to the insurance company of the driver who caused the accident. The insurance company had paid out insurance indemnity only after 4 months. The problem is that I’m a taxi driver and was deprived of my earnings due to the fault of the insurer. May I receive compensation for lost profits from the insurance company?

18.02.2010 Jevgenijs Belajevs, lawyer

According to Section 39, Paragraph 1, of the Compulsory Civil Liability Insurance of Owners of Motor Vehicles Law, an insurer shall take a decision regarding the payment of an insurance indemnity within a period of one month after all of the necessary documents have been received. If all necessary documents were submitted, but the insurer had still exceeded the term of insurance indemnity payment, then there’s a reason to request recovery of losses caused by the insurer’s failure to act.

According to Section 1779 of the Civil Law, everyone has a duty to compensate for losses they have caused through their acts or failure to act. However it is of high importance to prove the amount of lost profits, as well as the fault of the insurer and connection between the losses and unlawful actions of the insurer. The difference between profits and income shall be also kept in mind.

In this particular case, assuming that all necessary documentation was submitted to the insurer, the insurer had violated the Compulsory Civil Liability Insurance of Owners of Motor Vehicles Law. Therefore the driver couldn’t timely fix his vehicle due to the fault of the insurer, which means there are reasons to demand loss recovery from the insurer.

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