The repair of an Audi A4 with a market value of 16,500 lei cost almost 7 times more, i.e. 111,000 lei, after the repair and rental of another vehicle (car rental) during the time of the car’s operation, the amount that the insurance company is obliged to pay by law. It is just one of 72 such invoices which insurers in Parliament have called abuses in the context of RCA price caps.

Amid the crisis caused by the fresh bankruptcy of Euroins, a company with almost 2.8 million RCA policies in force, the government on Wednesday decided to cap RCA prices for 6 months at 28 February 2023. This measure, intended to temporarily calm the market, was approved by the Ciucă government under one condition: all deficiencies in the RCA Law (132/2017) must be corrected within this period so that similar crises do not happen again.

The ASF, the Competition Council, insurers, brokers, garages and consumer associations must now submit proposals for changes to the RCA legislation, and insurers have already started the process.

72 inflated invoices for repairs and “rental cars” that increase the price of RCA, insurers said in parliament

Sources from the parliament told HotNews.ro that they received an address from the insurance companies, which included a document with 72 very large compensation requests from car repair shops.

• “From our point of view, the content of the document is the result of the interpretation of the aspects provided by RCA legislation – in this case, Law no. 132/2017 on mandatory auto civil liability insurance for damage caused to third parties as a result of road accidents involving vehicles and trams.
• We note that, in our experience, these are not simple isolated cases, and thus we express our concern about allowing the continuation of this type of activity through current legislation, an activity that affects the entire auto insurance ecosystem, to the main disadvantage of Romanian consumers.
• At the same time, we emphasize the need for rapid updating and improvement of legislation in this area.” it is shown in the address.

The appeal is signed by: UNSAR – National Union of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies of Romania, BAAR – Bureau of Motor Vehicle Insurers of Romania and PIAR – Patronatul of the Insurance Industry of Romania.

• VIEW DOCUMENT WITH 72 INCREASED ACCOUNTS HERE

Below, we list just 5 such invoices that insurance companies claim are abusive.

The data shows very high hourly prices for some independent services compared to dealership prices, but especially for car rentals.

• NOTE: There are situations when the settlement required more than 350 days of using another vehicle before resolving misunderstandings between insurers and auto repair shops regarding the payment of repairs.
• Of course, some of the blame also lies with insurance companies that do not accept the assessment made by the service, pay late or conduct their own investigations of claimed losses, investigations that take time.

Case 1. How much did it cost to repair a mirror on a car for 16,500 lei in the end

One of the presented cases concerns the repair of a 2005 Audi A/4, the market value of which is more than 16,500 lei.

The finding revealed that the rear bumper, left side panel and left tail light needed to be replaced.

Insurers claim that this repair at the dealer would have cost 13,132 lei, but the bill for the repair carried out by an independent service was 21,055 lei.

The invoice for the replacement of the car (car rental) was added to the repair cost, which amounted to 90,190 lei for 53 days while the damaged car was in operation.

The service charged 1,430 lei for each day of renting another car while the damaged car was in the service. In total, the insurance company received a bill for payment in the amount of 111,245 lei, which is almost 7 times higher than the market value of the damaged car.

Case 2: Repairing an Opel Astra cost 33 times the value of the car after 350 days of car rental

Another presented case concerns the 2012 Opel Astra, the market value of which was 18,999 lei at the time of the accident, i.e. in 2021.

The estimated cost of the repair was more than 27,500 lei, the total loss, and the cost billed by the service for replacing the car during the time of its operation (more than 350 days) was more than 631,000 lei. In the end, the invoice demanded as compensation amounted to almost 640,000 lei.

Case 3: Almost 7x more working hours at an independent service center than at a Bentley repair shop

Another bill covers repairs done by an independent service to a Bentley that happened last summer.

The estimated cost of the repair was 17,573 lei, but the repair bill from the multi-brand service amounted to more than 91,000 lei.

Insurers claim that this service charged a rate of 4,500 lei + VAT per hour of work, while the hourly rate of work at a representative office would be 676 lei + VAT.

Case 4: for repairing a mirror for 6,400 lei, we received an invoice that is almost 4 times higher than the market value of the car

Another case in 2021 concerns the repair of a mirror of a 2008 Volkswagen car with a market value of about 30,000 lei.

The repair cost was more than 6,400 lei, to which was added an invoice for more than 113,000 lei with a replacement car for 86 days. The insurers claim in this case that two different rates of 732 lei and 1463 lei were applied for the period in which there were delays in ascertainment and other delays, and different cars were rented.

In the end, the invoice demanded as compensation amounted to more than 119,000 lei, which is almost 4 times the market value of the car at the time.

Case 5: The invoice is twice the price of the car, with a car rental rate of almost 3,000 lei per day

Finally, another case selected at random from the 72 invoices presented by the insurers concerns the repair of a damaged Renault Megane in January 2023, a car with a market value of almost 27,000 lei.

The estimated repair cost was 18,000 lei, to which was added an invoice of 26,775 lei for the replacement of the damaged car.

During 9 days, the price of the service for the car given in exchange was 2,975 lei per day, thus the total cost of compensation reached 56,819 lei, which is twice the market value of the car.

Car repair price caps “escaped” from 3 HG projects on RCA price caps

It should be noted that in none of the 3 projects of the RD on limiting the prices of RCA, which came to the government table (the last one was adopted on Wednesday), the limitation of the cost of repairing cars is not taken into account, although they are reflected in the compensations that insurers are obliged to pay them, the fact which is then transferred to the final RCA price.

The Competition Council gave a favorable opinion on the establishment of maximum rates for RCA, but with a recommendation: during the 6-month price freeze on RCA, the upper limit of compensation related to material damages should also be established, i.e., the limitation of repair costs in car services.

The Competition Council’s recommendation for the opinion given on RCA’s price cap was as follows:

• “When applying the provisions of this Government decision, the level of compensation for material damages will be established on the basis of information received through platforms specializing in the assessment and management of car damages at the time of their assessment.”

With the appeal of HotNews.ro, the president of the Competition Council explained the following:

• “We propose that repairs should be carried out during the limitation period, but not only based on damage assessment platforms such as the Audatex platform,” said Bohdan Chiritsoyu, president of the antimonopoly body.

What does this mean for drivers?

The platforms referred to by the authority are actually specialized loss calculation systems such as Audatex, DAT, Eurotax, etc.

In other words, property damage costs should no longer exceed the value in systems like Audatex, which receives data from automaker importers.

Currently, according to insurance specialists contacted by HotNews.ro, there are car dealers who have contracts with insurers and practice lower prices than the agencies listed in Audatex, while some independent car repair shops practice prices 70% higher. than in this system. .

• SEE THE CONCLUSION OF THE COMPETITION COUNCIL HERE

ASF Clarification: Car rental costs have been limited / RCA law needs to be amended to repair cars

A day ago, during the press briefing held after the government meeting where the RCA price limit was adopted, HotNews.ro contacted the representative of the ASF, who came out to explain the main provisions of the adopted act, why they were not implemented and the car repair restrictions , on the recommendation of the Competition Council.

• “A ceiling was set regarding non-use when renting cars, a maximum of 30 days. Regarding working hours and invoices practiced by car repair shops – firstly, these services are not under the supervision of the authorities, and secondly: the law RCA 132/2017 does not set maximum rates for working hours practiced by a particular service, unfortunately .
• Given that we are currently preparing a proposal to amend Law 132/2017, I invite all parties, including the Competition Council, to submit all proposals to be taken into account in the future law, which we hope will be adopted by the end of the year. “, said Valentin Ionescu, CEO of ASF Insurance.

Read more:

• ‘I don’t want to comment, it seems a bit biased’: ASF chief asked about honorable retirement and performance bonuses after City and Euroins bankruptcies
• RCA prices will be capped for 6 months at the level of the end of February 2023 / What is the condition put forward by Prime Minister Chuke – VIDEO
• RCA prices are also rising due to unreasonable car repair and rental rates / Example: Compensation demanded for car repair in the amount of 62,000 lei