MTPL Insurance Payment Within 15 Working Days

An insurance payment within 15 working days is the time limit currently applicable to standard settlement under compulsory motor third-party liability insurance after the insurer receives the full set of documents provided by law. The count starts not from the date of the accident and not from the first phone call, so confirmation that the documents were accepted is of key importance.

Contents

Update to the material: the original detailed text is preserved in full. References to the traffic police (GAI), former procedures and individual document forms relate to the period of the original publication in 2011. Today electronic settlement and the Euro Protocol are available, and the current procedure should be checked against the law and the services of the specific insurer.

When the payment period starts

Under MTPL for vehicle owners, the insurance payment is made within fifteen working days of the day the insurer receives the documents provided by law. If the set is incomplete, the period may not start. An insurer that has accepted documents must provide confirmation with their list and the date of acceptance.

For voluntary insurance, the procedure and time limits are determined by the contract and applicable rules. Therefore the headline "within 15 days" cannot automatically be transferred to CASCO, property, health or other products.

The detailed historical material

To make sure you really receive a payment within the established time limits, it is important to follow these rules:

1. All dealings with the insurance company must be formalised "on paper".
This means that all documents you submit and all applications you write must be handed in against a signature, registered, and copies of the documents bearing a mark of the date of acceptance must be kept by you.
If you later have problems obtaining the payment, it will be difficult for you to prove you are right. Your oral statements that you did "everything on time and as required" will not be regarded as a weighty argument.
If the insurance company does not give you a certificate of acceptance of documents, as the law requires, this is the first sign that you may face difficulties in getting the money.

2. The victim must write an accident report, additionally stating where the car is located
Even if the person at fault has already written a statement that the accident took place, it is advisable for you to duplicate the statement. In this statement you must state where the damaged car is located and by which telephone numbers the insurance company can contact you.
You can obtain a sample of such a statement from the legal consultant.

One of the formal grounds for refusing an insurance payment is an accusation that the victim hid the car from the insurance company and did not give it the opportunity to assess the damage. To rule out this possibility, you must write and register an application for inspection, stating the exact location of the car.
And one more nuance. Under the law, the representatives of the insurance company must themselves organise the inspection of your car. If your car cannot be driven, it is not your duty to deliver it to the insurance company for damage assessment. That is the insurance company's duty. You must keep the car in its post-accident condition and not obstruct the inspection.
If the insurance company does not inspect your car within 7 working days*, you are entitled to turn to an independent expert, and the insurance company then loses the right to challenge that assessment.
Thus an application for inspection protects you from having to approach the insurance company repeatedly asking to be put in the queue for inspection, and protects your interests.

* note: the specified period is counted from the moment all the necessary documents are submitted to the insurance company (the full list of such documents can be obtained from "Polis Re").

3. It is important to obtain from the insurance company a certificate listing the documents you have submitted.
You can obtain a sample of such a certificate from the legal consultant. If both you and the party at fault have submitted all the necessary documents, the insurance company must, within 7 working days, inspect your car, familiarise you with the assessment, and within 15 working days make the insurance payment.

The insurance company often says: you have brought all the necessary documents, and you will hand in the policy when the payment is made. In legal language this means: formally, the full list of documents does not exist (the policy is missing), so the count of the 15-day payment period has not yet begun, and, therefore, the victim will not be able to prove that the insurance company delayed the payment.
Another situation. The insurance company does not refuse to pay but suggests waiting a little because there are very many accidents. That is fine if the victim can postpone repairing the car for 2-3 weeks or a month, but what if the car is urgently needed?
If you hold a certificate listing the full set of documents submitted and the date of their acceptance, the payment must be made within the established time limits. A high accident rate or a shortage of staff is not a valid excuse for an insurance company.

4. You may start repairing the car only after you have been given a written report stating the exact amount of the payment.
If you have been told the amount of the payment orally and it suits you, you should still not start repairing the car until you are given an official inspection report or the insurance payment is made. Even if you have good relations with the employees of the insurance company, you need to obtain firmer guarantees than oral promises.

SO, TO SUM UP.
The insurance company must make the payment within 15 working days after you and the party at fault have submitted all the necessary documents.
When submitting documents to the insurance company, you must obtain confirmation of which documents were submitted and when.
The insurance company's duties include organising the inspection of your car, including travelling to the place where the damaged vehicle is located; your task is not to obstruct this inspection. The inspection must be carried out within 7 working days after you or the party at fault submit to the insurance company the document confirming the occurrence of the insured event. Such a document is the decision of the traffic police (GAI) or the court. The insurance company must provide you with the inspection results (the damage report) for review.
So that the insurance company has no chance to refuse you payment on the ground that you did not present the car for assessment, be sure to write an application for inspection.
If you and the party at fault submitted the full list of documents immediately after the official decision of the traffic police (GAI) or the court, the insurance company must, within the period set by law, manage both to carry out the inspection and to pay you the money.

MOST OFTEN ASKED...

1. The insurance company does not accept the application and says it must be written by the party at fault. What should I do?

Under the law, the application may be submitted by either the party at fault or the victim. If the insurance company breaks the law and refuses to accept the application, you can do the following:
a) ask the legal consultant of "Polis Re" for extracts from the law "On Compulsory Insurance of the Civil Liability of Vehicle Owners", show this document at the insurance company and ask it to explain why it is violating your rights;
b) send the application by registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt (or send a telegram with acknowledgement);
c) hand the application to the office manager rather than to an employee of the claims department. The office manager is obliged to register all incoming correspondence, so on your copy of the application he or she will put an incoming number and the insurance company's stamp.

2. The insurance company does not issue a certificate of acceptance of documents. What should I do?

The certificate of acceptance of documents is a very important document. If the insurance company does not give you such a certificate, you can do the following:
a) ask the legal consultant of "Polis Re" for the relevant extracts from the legislation, show this document at the insurance company and ask it to explain why it is violating your rights;
b) send all the documents by post, through the main post office, by registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt and a detailed inventory of the enclosed documents. Delivery of the documents by post will take some time, but it will allow you later to prove with documents that you did everything required of you, and the insurance company will have no way out.

3. What should I do if the insurance company does not state the amount of damage and does not issue an inspection report?

Under the law, the insurance company is obliged to give you an inspection report (you can obtain the relevant extracts from the law from the legal consultant). You can also write an official application asking to be familiarised with the inspection results (a sample application can also be obtained from the legal consultant of "Polis Re").
If the insurance company does not state the amount of damage and does not make the insurance payment on time, in most cases the most effective way to solve the problem is to take the matter to court. You can find out about the time limits for hearing cases in court from the legal consultant.

4. The insurance company is ready to give me the money, but I disagree with the amount. I was told that if I receive it, I will no longer be able to claim anything. Is that true?

The insurance company is obliged to make the insurance payment within 15 days at least in the amount it considers necessary.
If you have received this money from the insurance company, it does NOT mean that you agree with the amount of the payment and have no right to make claims. It only means that the insurance company has performed part of its obligations to you (you can obtain the relevant references and extracts from the law from the legal consultant). Therefore you can safely take the part of the money offered by the insurance company and then deal with obtaining the missing amount.

5. What should I do if the party at fault does not hand in the insurance policy?

The insurance policy is among the mandatory documents required for making an insurance payment. If the party at fault does not provide the insurance policy, no payment will be made.
If the party at fault does not voluntarily agree to restore your car and does not want to hand over the insurance policy, the matter will most likely be resolved in court. Before taking documents to court, you must make sure that the party at fault is solvent.

6. Why should I do everything myself for the party at fault?

Under the law the victim has no obligations, only rights. However, among these rights it is stated that the victim has the right, in place of the party at fault, to collect the documents, write applications, and so on. Therefore the victim's "rights" in practice often turn into "obligations".

The current procedure after an accident

Ensure safety. Stop, switch on the hazard lights, help the injured and call the emergency services if required.
Formalise the incident. Use the standard procedure or the Euro Protocol if all the established conditions are met and there is no disagreement between the participants.
Record the circumstances. Take photos and videos, keep the dashcam recordings, the contacts of witnesses and the participants' documents.
Notify the insurer. Submit the application through an office, website, app or another official channel.
Obtain confirmation. It should state the documents accepted and the date they were received.
Present the property for inspection. Do not start repairs before the damage has been recorded, unless otherwise agreed in writing.
Monitor the deadline. Count it from the date the full prescribed set was received.

Online settlement and the Euro Protocol

Since 2024, digital ways of submitting an application and documents have been available to citizens for compulsory classes of insurance. In a minor accident with no injured persons, involving two vehicles, with valid policies and no dispute, the Euro Protocol may be used if the other established requirements are met.

The simplified procedure is not used in cases of injury, disagreement, the absence of a valid policy, the involvement of more than two cars or other circumstances that do not meet the conditions. Do not choose the Euro Protocol merely for speed if the facts require the incident to be recorded by the police.

Which documents confirm your claim

the registered application for an insurance payment;
a certificate or electronic notice of the accepted set of documents;
materials of the accident report, or the electronic Euro Protocol declaration;
photos, videos and documents on the damage;
the bank details of the beneficiary;
correspondence with the insurer and status notifications.

The insurer has no right to demand documents that are not provided by legislation for the relevant compulsory line. If an additional document is requested, ask for the legal basis to be stated in writing.

Inspection and assessment of damage

The car must be presented for inspection at an agreed place. If it cannot move, tell the insurer where it is located and send an application for the inspection to be organised. Record the date of your request and what has been agreed.

Before repair, keep the overall view, each item of damage, the traces of the incident and documents on the costs of towing or storage. Urgent measures to prevent greater damage should also be documented in detail.

If the deadline is breached

First find out whether the insurer considers the set complete and from what date. Send a written demand with the certificate of acceptance of documents attached. If there is no result, you can use the internal complaints procedure and apply to the insurance ombudsman. Since 1 January 2024, applying to the ombudsman has been a mandatory pre-trial stage before going to court in an insurance dispute.

If you are not satisfied with the amount of the payment

Request the calculation and the document on the basis of which the amount of harm was determined. Check the list of damage, the cost of work and materials, the coefficients applied and the limit established by law. Disagreement with the amount may also be the subject of an application to the insurance ombudsman.

Common mistakes

counting the period from the date of the accident rather than from receipt of the full set;
handing in documents without confirmation of their list and date;
relying only on promises made by telephone;
repairing the car before inspection;
not checking the status of the electronic application;
applying MTPL rules to a voluntary contract;
skipping the mandatory pre-trial procedure.

Services in compulsory lines of insurance are provided only by insurance companies and branches of non-resident insurance organisations that hold the relevant licence in Kazakhstan. The application for payment is sent to the insurer responsible for settling the specific event.

Main conclusion

Fifteen working days is the period after the full prescribed set of documents has been provided under the standard MTPL procedure. To protect your rights, obtain confirmation that the documents were accepted, present the car for inspection, keep your correspondence and promptly challenge any breach of the deadline or the amount of the payment.

This material is for information only. For a specific event, the current version of the law, the circumstances of the accident and the terms of the contract apply.

Insurance Payment Within 15 Days