Pursuant to Article 3 of Law no. 132/2017 regarding the mandatory auto civil liability insurance for damages caused to third parties through vehicle and tram accidents, natural or legal persons who own vehicles subject to registration or registration in Romania, have the obligation to insure themselves for civil liability cases as a result of damages caused by vehicle and tram accidents.

Exceptionally, natural and legal persons who use vehicles exclusively for the purpose of training, races, competitions or rallies, organized legally, are not obliged to conclude a RCA contract, for the risks deriving from these activities, vehicle owners or competition organizers having the opportunity to be insured voluntarily.

As defined by the provisions of Law 132/2017, the RCA insurance contract represents a mandatory auto civil liability insurance contract for damages caused to third parties through vehicle and tram accidents, the conclusion of which is confirmed by the RCA insurance policy, the policy that certifies the existence of civil liability insurance for damages caused to third parties through vehicle accidents.

The main function of the mandatory RCA insurance contract is to offer increased protection to third parties whose vehicles are damaged due to the fault of other traffic participants, by the fact that the insurance companies guarantee an increased solvency ratio, so that the injured persons are not placed in the situation where he cannot recover the moral damages/material damages suffered as a result of the production of the insured risk due to the insolvency of the third parties guilty of their production.

Thus, regardless of the RCA insurer chosen by the persons obliged to conclude the contract, it has the obligation to compensate the injured party for the proven damages suffered as a result of the accident caused by the insured vehicle, granting monetary compensation for:

• bodily injury or death, including non-patrimonial damages;

• material damages, including de-registration and registration costs, stamp duty costs, damage limitation expenses, proven by documents, expenses related to the decrease in the value of the vehicle after repairs, proven by documents or expertise;

• costs related to returning the vehicle to the state before the insured event, proven by documents issued through specialized systems or by documents issued in accordance with the law;

• damages representing the consequence of the lack of use of the damaged vehicle, including the temporary replacement of the vehicle, based on the option of the injured person;

• legal expenses incurred by the injured person or related expenses in the case of alternative resolution of the dispute if the solution is favorable to the injured person;

• the expenses related to the transport of the damaged vehicle, belonging to the damaged third party, from the place of the accident to the location where the damage assessment center is located, to the repair unit chosen by the damaged person in order to repair the vehicle, the one/closest to the place of the accident or from the domicile of the injured person, as the case may be, if the said vehicle can no longer move by its own means, and the insurer does not provide transport.

In order to exercise the rights listed above, the injured persons have the right, directly or through representatives, to submit the claim for compensation to the RCA insurer, the latter being obliged to respond to the request of the requesting party within 30 days from the date of submission of the claim, formulating in writing, a justified compensation offer, sent with confirmation of receipt, in case the liability of the insured in the occurrence of the risks covered by the RCA insurance is proven, and the damage has been quantified, or to notify the injured party in writing, with confirmation of receipt, of the reasons for which he did not approve, in whole or in part, the compensation claims.

The compensation is to be paid by the RCA insurer within 10 days from the date of acceptance of the compensation offer, and in the event that the insurer does not agree with the requested compensation, it is to be determined by the Court, in which case payment is made within 10 days from the date on which the insurer receives the final court decision.

It should be mentioned that, if the value of the damage does not exceed the amount of 10,000 Lei, it can be requested through the special procedure of the Request for reduced value, the mention being relevant by reference to the fact that the decision of the first court benefits from legal enforceability, being able be thus placed, in the situation in which the insurer does not voluntarily pay the amount established by the decision, in forced execution without going through the second procedural cycle of the Appeal.

Thus, in the hypothesis of establishing the amount of the compensation by judicial means, the injured person will go to the competent court with a request to be summoned to court which, depending on the amount of the requested compensation, can take the form of a claim in common law claims or the form of a claim for value reduced, following that after obtaining the enforceable title represented by the court decision, request the insurer to pay the compensation mentioned in the provision of the decision, and if the insurer does not pay the compensation willingly, to proceed with the forced execution of the decision through a judicial executor.