The following amendment, which comes into force on July 1, 2015, determines the type of document issued by the insurer

If a compulsory insurance contract is concluded in the form of an electronic document, the policyholder is sent an insurance policy in the form of an electronic document.

The electronic OSAGO policy is the first experience of using an electronic document for a driver. The driver will need to print this document and, if necessary, give it to the police.

Features when using an electronic document

The features are described in the new clause of the law on compulsory motor liability insurance

7.2. A compulsory insurance contract can be drawn up in the form of an electronic document, taking into account the features established by this Federal Law.

The creation and submission by the policyholder to the insurer of an application for concluding a compulsory insurance contract in the form of an electronic document is carried out using the official website of the insurer on the Internet information and telecommunications network. In this case, the specified official website of the insurer can be used as an information system that ensures the exchange of information in electronic form between the policyholder, the insurer, which is the operator of this information system, and the professional association of insurers, which is the operator of the automated compulsory insurance information system created in accordance with Article 30 of this Federal Law. The list of information provided by the policyholder using the official website of the insurer on the Internet information and telecommunications network when creating an application for concluding a compulsory insurance contract in the form of an electronic document is determined by the rules of compulsory insurance.

Access to the official website of the insurer on the Internet information and telecommunications network to perform the actions provided for in this paragraph can be carried out using a unified identification and authentication system. An insurance contract cannot be concluded in the form of an electronic document if the information provided by the policyholder does not correspond to the information contained in the automated compulsory insurance information system created in accordance with Article 30 of this Federal Law.

When carrying out compulsory insurance, an application for concluding a compulsory insurance contract in electronic form, sent to the insurer and signed with a simple electronic signature of the policyholder - an individual or an enhanced qualified electronic signature of the policyholder - a legal entity in accordance with the requirements of Federal Law of April 6, 2011 N 63-FZ “ “On Electronic Signature” is recognized as an electronic document equivalent to a paper document signed with a handwritten signature. For the purposes of concluding a compulsory insurance contract in the form of an electronic document, the communication by the policyholder in the application for concluding a compulsory insurance contract of the insurance number of his individual personal account is equivalent to an application signed with a simple electronic signature of the policyholder.

After the policyholder pays the insurance premium under the compulsory insurance contract, the insurer sends to the policyholder an insurance policy created using the automated compulsory insurance information system created in accordance with Article 30 of this Federal Law, in the form of an electronic document signed with an enhanced qualified electronic signature of the insurer in compliance with the requirements of the Federal Law dated April 6, 2011 N 63-FZ “On Electronic Signatures”. Simultaneously with sending the insurance policy to the policyholder in the form of an electronic document, the insurer enters information about the conclusion of a compulsory insurance agreement into the automated compulsory insurance information system created in accordance with Article 30 of this Federal Law.

• An application for an electronic OSAGO policy is completed online on the official website of the insurer, which in turn can be used as an information system;
• The contract will not be concluded if the policyholder provides false information;
• The application from individuals is signed with a simple electronic signature, from legal entities with a reinforced qualified electronic signature;
• A document signed with an electronic signature is equivalent to a document signed with a handwritten signature on paper;
• In order to obtain an electronic MTPL policy online, the policyholder’s SNILS number is equivalent to a simple electronic signature, that is, for individuals it is enough to indicate this number to fill out an application;
• After payment, the insurer sends the MTPL policy to the policyholder in the form of an electronic document signed with an enhanced qualified electronic signature and enters the data into the automated compulsory insurance information system.

Problems

An electronic document is certainly very convenient and mobile. There are no restrictions on choosing an insurance company in your region. However, the MTPL policy is a document that police officers are authorized to check; in addition, in addition to confirming insurance, it confirms the passage of a technical inspection. Currently, traffic police officers are not able to “check” the authenticity of the MTPL policy and the only confirmation for them is the original seal of the policyholder on paper. It is possible that amendments to the law will come into force on July 1, 2015, but technical implementation will be delayed indefinitely.

For example, such a situation occurred with the introduction of driver license categories. Categories were introduced, but there were no training programs for these categories for a long time.

After Government Decree No. 567 of June 2, 2015 on amendments to Federal Law No. 40 “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance” came into force, car owners were able to issue electronic motor insurance policies. Over the past year and a half - until January 1, 2017, many insurance companies resisted this innovation, refusing to sell MTPL policies electronically and citing “technical reasons.” Thus, they forced people to purchase policies directly at the company’s offices, where insurance employees could impose additional services. From January 1, 2017, at the request of the Central Bank, all insurance companies were obliged to unconditionally provide the possibility of purchasing electronic compulsory motor liability insurance on insurers’ websites.

In this article we will look at what electronic MTPL is; what are its advantages, disadvantages and differences from a paper certificate; how to use it on the roads and whether you need to carry it with you.

What is an electronic policy?

Electronic MTPL is an analogue of a paper policy, which is legally no different from ordinary paper insurance. Today it can be purchased on the websites of insurance companies on the Internet. Since the entire registration process takes place remotely, the electronic version is completely virtual and does not have a “physical embodiment” in the form of a paper contract and an insurance certificate printed on GOZNak letterhead. In fact, this format is the only significant difference between electronic MTPL insurance and conventional insurance. To issue such a policy, the same initial data is used: KBM, region of residence, type and power of the car, length of service and age of the driver, etc.

As already mentioned at the beginning of the article, the opportunity to issue an electronic version of the policy became available to car owners on July 1, 2015, when changes to the law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance” came into force, regulating the procedure for issuing such a policy. Initially, this service worked in test mode and only allowed users to renew insurance contracts that were already valid at that time. And from October 1 of the same year, it became possible to purchase an electronic MTPL on the Internet from any insurance company that provides an online vehicle sales service.

What does such a policy look like?

After issuing an electronic MTPL, the car owner receives it to his e-mail address in the form of a pdf file.

The appearance of the electronic OSAGO is not much different from the paper prototype: it is also color (most companies have them, but there are also black and white ones), but with a simpler background, since there is no need for a micropattern, which is applied to the paper version to protect the policy from counterfeiting .

MTPL electronic policies are distinguished by a unique XXX series - it has no analogues among paper certificates. In addition, they contain all the important information on the insurance contract: terms, client’s full name, model and make of the vehicle, list of drivers allowed to drive, cost, etc. Below are examples of electronic MTPL policies from major insurance companies:

How to check the authenticity of an electronic policy?

Despite the fact that classic methods of deception, such as the sale of fake policies by a fake insurance agent, are not applicable for electronic insurance, you can also fall for the trick of scammers on the Internet.

The most common method of selling electronic MTPL forms among scammers is the sale of fake electronic certificates on fictitious clone sites of real companies, which have a similar web address and the same design as the official pages of insurance organizations.

RSA spends a lot of effort on timely detection and blocking of such sites, but there is still a risk of being deceived, especially for citizens who have poor computer skills and no experience paying for services on the Internet. As a rule, fakes are characterized by a greatly reduced cost of the services offered.

This is what the standard form for checking the validity of an MTPL policy looks like on the RSA website:

In the specified fields, you must enter the requested data about the series and number of the MTPL agreement, and then perform a search in the RSA database. If such a policy actually exists, the system will provide basic information about the insured vehicle, for example, in the following form:

The presence of such a window will mean that the purchased insurance is genuine.

What should I show to the traffic police?

Previously, the process of checking by a traffic police officer whether a citizen had an MTPL policy was extremely simple and understandable. The driver presented the original document, the inspector checked the information from it with the data of the car and the driver.

With the introduction of electronic compulsory motor liability insurance, the policy verification process has not become any more complicated, but the verification procedure has changed significantly. A special explanatory letter was sent to all traffic police officers (Letter dated July 3, 2015 No. 13/12-у-4440), in which inspectors received information on how they should check the electronic policy. Starting from this year, the verification process is extremely simple: through a special service in the IMTS network of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, or if it is not available through the official website of the RSA, a traffic police officer makes a request to the database about the availability of state insurance. registration plate and VIN of the vehicle.

In the traffic rules, these norms have not yet been updated (although changes have been promised for a long time), in particular, in the current version there is the following clause:

2.1. The driver of a motor vehicle is obliged to:

2.1.1. Carry with you and, upon request, hand over to employees for verification:

insurance policy of compulsory civil liability insurance of the vehicle owner in cases where the obligation to insure one’s civil liability is established by federal law.

Therefore, based on the current legislation, the inspector’s requirement to present the policy will be completely legal, even if the driver has purchased its electronic version. And although for more than a year of operation of e-OSAGO there have been no loud and resonant scandals in this regard, RSA recommends having a printed version of the policy with you to simplify the verification procedure and prevent possible disagreements. This is especially true for remote settlements, where the technical equipment of the traffic police service leaves much to be desired. Obviously, a photocopy of the insurance certificate will not be an official document, but its presence can help save drivers time and simplify communication with inspectors.

Advantages of electronic MTPL

The main advantage of electronic MTPL is the ability to remotely issue car insurance. The policyholder no longer has to visit the office in person, prepare the necessary documents and waste time in line. This is especially true for busy citizens, as well as residents of remote regions due to the inaccessibility of a regular policy.

In addition, the advantages of online insurance include the following points:

• electronic insurance cannot be lost (since it has no material embodiment), and a copy of the policy itself will be stored in 3 copies at once (in the RSA database, with the insurance company and with the owner of the vehicle);
• the opportunity to issue a so-called “clean policy” (that is, without additional services and unnecessary options, which are sometimes forcibly imposed on clients in the insurer’s offices);
• if you follow the most basic rules of caution, the likelihood of fraud is minimal (whereas when buying a paper version of OSAGO, you can become a victim of deception on the part of employees of the insurance organization itself);
• Citizens of remote regions now have a real opportunity to choose any insurance company they like (before the advent of electronic compulsory motor liability insurance in such areas, as a rule, there were 1-2 insurers and drivers simply had no other choice but to apply for a motor vehicle license in these organizations).

Disadvantages of such a policy

Despite the large number of positive aspects, electronic compulsory motor liability insurance also has a number of negative features:

• registration is possible only for those citizens whose information is already contained in the RSA database (that is, online ordering of a policy is not available for new drivers);
• errors made when entering a large amount of information about a vehicle and its owner will cost users dearly (such policies are considered invalid, but money for unsuccessful registration is not returned, due to the fact that these errors are interpreted by insurance companies as the provision of false information);
• checking electronic compulsory motor liability insurance takes much more time from traffic police inspectors than the paper version (after all, they need to find out the car’s details and then check them with the database);
• a large number of technical difficulties that may arise when applying for a policy on the Internet (over time the system should be debugged, but at the moment various failures, database errors and other problems on the insurers’ website are a common sight).

Prospects

The development potential of the electronic OSAGO policy is very high. All companies that decided to remain in the insurance market were given a mandatory condition: before January 1, 2017, each organization must launch its service for the online sale of insurance certificates. And already in the first 11 days of the new year, 37.5 thousand contracts were concluded, which amounted to more than 10% of total sales for the entire last year.

What is the reason for this surge in driver activity? The thing is that in unprofitable regions, many clients simply cannot obtain a policy in any other way. Typically the situation develops as follows:

The insurance company, seeing that the region is unprofitable, seeks to leave the area. However, the legislation does not allow it to do this, obliging the insurer to work in all constituent entities of the Russian Federation or not to work at all. To reduce their costs, companies are reducing the number of branches in the region as much as possible, which is why drivers are forced to constantly stand in queues in the hope of obtaining insurance.

Many citizens simply do not have the opportunity to buy compulsory motor insurance (especially in the south of Russia), but it is difficult to make claims to companies, since they operate within the law. As a result of the introduction of an electronic policy, the need for a personal visit has disappeared, and the availability of compulsory motor liability insurance for the population has increased. Hence the sharp surge in demand for this product. And it will become even more popular when all technical problems are resolved, and the work of online sales and registration services is fully streamlined.

The number of electronically issued “vehicle certificates” is growing rapidly; Representatives of the RSA and the Central Bank report on the demand for this type of service. But is the owner of an electronic policy really not facing problems when contacting traffic police officers?

Unfortunately, although e-OSAGO was introduced on July 1, 2015, cases of unlawful fines for electronic contracts still occur. As a rule, policyholders print out the received electronic policy files. However, some traffic police inspectors do not accept the corresponding printout when checking documents, strictly following clause 2.1.1 of the Traffic Rules. Indeed, this paragraph obliges the driver to carry and present a “motor vehicle” policy, which this printout is not formally. Some of the police representatives demand to put a “living” stamp on it, thus assuring it in the insurer’s office; others are trying to find an “electronic seal” on it, misinterpreting the concept of “enhanced qualified electronic signature” (with which the electronic policy is signed).

The distrust of inspectors towards printouts without a live seal and signature is understandable: last year, according to various estimates, up to 10% of car owners drove with fake policies.

In addition, although electronic compulsory motor liability insurance began to be widely implemented only a couple of months ago, the intensification of fraudulent schemes in this area is obvious. RSA warns of the emergence of clone sites of online platforms of well-known insurance companies, promising to issue e-OSAGO - in reality, of course, they are simply deceiving motorists.

E-policy: to have or not to have?

Possible problems with the traffic police, as one of the “inconveniences” of the electronic “vehicle citizen”, are also recognized by the Central Bank. By the way, back at the end of 2015, Deputy Prime Minister I. Shuvalov gave instructions to make changes to the Traffic Rules regarding the possibility of not even printing out an electronic policy. However, for now clause 2.1.1 remains in the same wording.

Given the circumstances, it would not hurt for car owners to have an idea of ​​some regulatory guidelines. In particular, clause 7.2 of Art. 15 of Federal Law No. 40 and clause 1.11 of the OSAGO Rules provide for the possibility of issuing a policy electronically. At the same time, there is no separate policy form for e-OSAGO - the only difference is in the series of the document (for electronic policies the XXX series is currently used).

Article 32 of the Federal Law on Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance assigns control over the fulfillment of the obligation to insure car owners of their liability to the police. The law also stipulates that the driver must have with him an MTPL policy or a printout of information about concluding an electronic contract. Namely information. Thus, it is legally established that the driver can present to the police officer both a regular paper policy and printed information about e-MTPL. It is clear that in this case it is important for the traffic police inspector to be able to check the validity of the insurance.

By internal letter of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate No. 13/12-u-4440 dated July 3, 2015, appropriate clarifications were sent to all departments, instructing employees to check the availability of an MTPL policy through a special resource in the IMTS network of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia or through the RSA website. To do this, inspectors only need information about the state registration plate and VIN number of the vehicle. This letter also explains that if the system contains information about the conclusion of a compulsory motor liability insurance agreement, then holding the driver liable for not having an insurance policy with him is excluded (clause 2 of article 12.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

There are rules, but there is a gap

It turns out that the necessary changes have been made to the regulatory documents on “automobile citizenship”. There is also an internal letter from the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate regarding “virtual” insurance. However, traffic rules still allow for different interpretations, which sometimes leads to trouble.

If problems arise with the police related to the electronic policy, it is useful to remind the inspector about the provisions of the law and the above internal order. And the fine issued for the absence of a compulsory motor liability insurance policy should be appealed - in this situation, the motorist will have every chance of success. At the same time, no one compensates for the time spent on disputes and appeals. Therefore, while a “regular” paper policy often enjoys greater confidence among policyholders.

The law on the electronic MTPL insurance policy was not adopted as such; legislators in 2015 adopted only amendments to the already existing Federal Law No. 40 “On MTPL”, as it is popularly called. It was thanks to these amendments that such an innovation as electronic insurance appeared. Some insurance companies echoed the new trends and voluntarily introduced an online registration service, while others ignored the possibility of remote registration for various reasons. However, already in January 2017, another amendments came into force - what interesting things did they bring?

The use of existing electronic MTPL policies is increasingly becoming part of everyday life, and the basis for this was laid back in 2015, fully regulating the procedure for its registration.

All data that is used when obtaining a document is based on information obtained in the unified RSA database, including information about previously concluded insurance, accidents that have occurred and payments for them, KBM, the driver and his vehicle.

The application is filled out directly on the car insurer’s website and certified with a simple electronic signature, in accordance with clause 7 of Art. 15. If we refer to Federal Law No. 63 of 2011 “On Electronic Signature”, this term is usually understood as combinations of a password and login to a personal account, which confirm that the application was sent by this particular person. If insurance is issued for a car of a legal entity, then an enhanced electronic signature is required.

The policy, in accordance with the same paragraph 7., is concluded on the basis of the same information that is usually provided by the purchaser upon receipt of a paper policy. e-OSAGO is sent immediately after non-cash or cash payment, and no later than 1 business day after payment. At the same time, the company employee must enter information into the RSA database.

Actions to reissue an electronic policy are also provided for in the law. In order to enter or change certain data, you will still need to send an application online to the insurer requesting changes to the document. If necessary (for example, when you need to register one more person), an additional payment is made at the established rates. Within 2 days, the company must either provide the policy with changes made to it, or notify the citizen that re-issuance is impossible for any reason.

New amendments

A new law on compulsory car insurance is starting to work, and the reason for this was the amendments that were introduced by Federal Law No. 214 back in June last year. The most important of them is the introduction of mandatory (that’s right!) electronic compulsory motor liability insurance. That is, now absolutely every licensed insurance company is required by law to provide the opportunity to issue a policy using the Internet. There should be a corresponding notice about this on the insurer's website. This obligation is specified in clause 7.2 of Art. 15 of the Law “On Compulsory Motor Liability Insurance”.

From the beginning of 2017, the instructions of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, which also relate to e-MTPL, will come into force. They reduce the likelihood of minor fraud by auto insurance companies. The fact is that many vehicle owners have noticed that companies use various technical tricks (long technical work, etc.) in order not to provide remote policy issuance services. Now all technical work must be carried out at night, and a corresponding notification must appear on the site 24 hours in advance, and interruptions in the operation of the portal should not exceed 30 minutes per day.

If, due to technical problems, it is impossible to obtain insurance, the car owner will be asked to go to the website of another company.

Who will be denied e-OSAGO?

Anyone can receive an electronic MTPL policy, but the law, as usual, also provides a list of persons who are deprived of the opportunity to receive it. This includes:

1. Owners of new vehicles purchased from a showroom. If the car did not have previous owners and was not registered, then it will not be possible to obtain insurance remotely.
2. If a driver who has only recently received a driver’s license starts applying for an online policy, he will be refused. The thing is that there is no data about the person in the RSA database, therefore, it will not be possible to verify their authenticity.

In the cases listed above, there is only one way - to visit the insurance company in person and purchase compulsory motor liability insurance yourself, submitting the necessary documents. And next year, when the document expires and you need to renew it, you will be able to do this via the Internet.

Persons who provide information that is untrue or intentionally distorted will also be refused to enter into a compulsory car insurance contract. This type of insurance is not intended for owners of cars registered in a foreign country and temporarily located in Russia, since there is no data about such persons in the database. This means that in such a case, registration is possible only after a personal visit.

Questions about e-OSAGO

Despite the fact that the possibility of obtaining compulsory motor liability insurance in electronic form was introduced back in 2015, many questions still arise about this, and they mainly concern how exactly such insurance works and whether it is legitimate.

It’s worth saying right away that electronic OSAGO has no differences from paper OSAGO, even the price remains the same. It begins to operate immediately upon receipt by the policyholder. A copy of the paper is sent to the specified email, but it continues to be stored in your personal account on the insurer’s website. If a paper policy is more familiar, you can always order it by mail, paying the shipping costs, and after a few days the strict reporting form will arrive at the specified address.

Another important question is what to show the traffic police inspector when he stops a vehicle to check documents. In clause 7.2 of Art. 15 states that a document received electronically is equivalent to a paper document. This means that you can simply print it out in order to present it both when checking documents and during registration actions at the MREO. The fact is that now traffic police departments and inspectors have a dedicated channel for checking the authenticity of compulsory motor insurance in the RSA database, therefore the presence of a strict reporting form is not a mandatory fact.