Propósitos de la venida de Cristo

Although, at the beginning, the motor insurance involved only protection for personal injury or other losses suffered by third parties, time brought in new types of protection.

Thus, motor insurance is not limited to the insurance of the vehicle, but offer also other types of protection related to:

merchandise insurance, carrier‟s liability insurance, vehicle insurance,

third party liability insurance.

These types of insurance cover a large array of risks and have certain particularities that relate to insurable or non-insurable risks and the way they are underwritten. It is also worth mentioning that the motor insurance was influenced to a significant extent by the maritime insurance.

8.3 Types of motor insurance policies 8.3.2 Carrier liability insurance

During transportation, the carrier is involved in certain activities that bring about his liability towards the owner of the merchandise. In order to avoid payment of compensations due to damages, the carrier may conclude a liability insurance contract.

Under a carrier liability insurance contract, the insurer covers the liability of the carrier

(natural or legal person) that undertakes the transportation of the merchandises by vehicles owned, leased or rented by him. This is done in accordance with the provisions of the International Road Transportation Contract of Merchandises (abbreviation –CMR).

The insurance is valid on a certain territory, for a certain period of time or for a certain trip. According to the provisions of article 17 and 23 of CMR, the carrier is liable for the total or

partial damage of the merchandise within the period of time from the reception of the merchandise up to its final delivery. The carrier is also liable for not meeting the delivery deadline.

The carrier is exempted from his liability when the loss or damage of the merchandise is the consequence of a special risk linked to one of the following situations:

utilisation of a convertible vehicle, if this was expressly agreed in the contract and stated in the bill of lading;

lack or damage of the package for the merchandises that, by their nature, are exposed to damage if they are unpacked or inappropriately packed;

loading, unloading or movement of the merchandise by the sender, the recipient or their representatives;

inappropriate loading or numeration of the parcels; live stock transportation .

8.3.3 Vehicle insurance

vehicles in private property, motorcycles,

commercial vehicles (used for merchandise or passenger transportation), vehicles used for agricultural works or forestry, and so on.

Physical damage insurance

The risks, for which insurance is provided, are different from one insurance company to another, as every company establishes independently its underwriting policies. However, there are certain risks that are underwritten by the majority of the insurance companies:

accidental damages caused by crashing or impact with other vehicles or any other movable or immovable objects inside or outside the insured vehicle;

fire and damages linked to this event;

thunder, explosion and other damages, if they occurred at a certain distance from the vehicle;

rain, hail, storm, flood, hurricane, earthquake; land gliding ;

snow avalanche and fall of certain objects on the establishment where the vehicle is located.

In order to avoid any misinterpretations or possible litigations, the insurance conditions also state the excluded risks for which no insurance is provided:

direct or indirect damages of the vehicle, caused by civil war, military operations, strikes, vandalism, terrorism, sports contests or training for sports contests;

damages caused by fire or explosion of the vehicle due to unauthorised transformations; damages suffered by components, spare parts or other accessories separately stored in the

house or garage;

damages that result from over-demanding the capacity of the vehicle;

expenses incurred in order to transform or improve the vehicle as compared to its state before the insured event occurred;

indirect damages such as reduction in the value of the vehicle or others caused by interruptions in using it;

expenses incurred by the transportation to the place of the insured event; cost of the medical care provided to the driver even in case of insured events. The succession of the steps in the claims settlement process includes the following:

a) to notify the police or other competent bodies requesting documents regarding the causes and circumstances of the event, the damages produced;

b) to take any possible measures to limit the damages;

c) to take any possible measures to protect and avoid the subsequent deterioration of the damaged goods;

d) to provide the insurance company all the documents necessary to check the existence and the value of the insured vehicle, to establish and evaluate the damages, to determine the compensation rights;

e) to provide the insurance company all the documents regarding the insured event. 8.3.4 Third party liability insurance

Through third party liability insurance the insurer undertakes to cover the damages produced by the insured to third parties.

In every country, there are special legal provisions that regard motor insurance and especially third party liability insurance. This is mainly due to the social implications of this type of insurance.

In the European Union, the evolution of legal provisions shows a gradual extension of the compulsory motor insurance. Thus, according to the first directive regarding motor insurance, the insurers had to cover at least the liability of the insured for injuries suffered by third parties. The second directive imposed the necessity to cover the material damages suffered by third parties, while the third directive also refers to compulsory passenger insurance.

Nowadays the third party liability insurance is valid on the territory of all the member states. 8.3.4.2 International third party liability insurance

Due to the reasons previously underlined, the third party liability insurance also represents a necessity at international level. The Economic Commission for Europe of the United Nations Organisation was the first that forwarded the idea that the insurance underwritten in the home country of the insured should be also valid in the country where the accident occurred.

Thus, in each member country, a motor insurance bureau was established to represent the local insurance companies. This institution has the right to issue insurance certificates directly or through one of its member companies. This certificate is known as “international card for motor insurance” or the “green card”.

The green card represents the proof that the owner of the vehicle concluded a third party liability insurance contract. It covers the liability of the insured under the legal provisions of the visited country where the accident occurred. The local bureau has the task to establish, assess and liquidate the damages with which it will be reimbursed by the issuing bureau, together with an extra amount of money for the services rendered.

The agreement also takes into account the situation in which the visited country has no

compulsory third party liability insurance. In this case, the local bureau called “service bureau”, after a

preliminary advice with the issuing bureau, liquidates the damages suffered by third parties and then waits to be reimbursed.

In 1949, the national motor insurance bureaux set up an international organisation called the “Council of Motor Insurance Bureaux” with its headquarters in London. Its main accomplishments were an inter-bureau convention called “Uniform Agreement” and the introduction of a green card with a unique format. The convention entered into force on January the 1st 1953.

In the green card system, the bureau of a European country has the statute of a member with full rights, while the bureau of a non-European country has the statute of an affiliated bureau.

In order to prove the insurance‟s existence, the insurer issues each year an international green card that states the foreign correspondents of the insurance company that guarantee on their behalf the compensation of damages.

The green card system does not establish the insured amount; the indemnity is given in

accordance with the legislation in force in the country where the accident happened and in agreement

with the injured party.

The insurance company‟s liability starts from the moment the insured vehicle leaves the country and ends upon its return.

The establishing and assessment of damages, the evaluation and payment of the indemnity is done is accordance with the rules established by the green card convention through the foreign correspondents of the insurer from the origin country.

Indemnity is offered for the damages caused by physical injury or death of the victims or for the material damages suffered by goods outside the vehicle that produced the accident, as well as for the physical injury or death of the vehicle‟s passengers.