How to check the CMTPL policy for authenticity

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Fake OSAGO policy can bring serious problems to the car owner. Starting from fines for the actual lack of compulsory insurance and ending with non-payment of compensation in the event of an accident. But how to check who the OSAGO policy is issued to and whether it is fake?

Why bother?

The reason is the fact that the document is not always purchased at the office of the insurance company. Often, insurance is renewed through an agent who is not on the staff of the organization, and his earnings depend on a percentage. It may happen that such an “employee” turns out to be a fraudster who, along with real policies, “issues” fake ones. For this, falsified forms of an existing insurer or genuine ones, but belonging to a bankrupt company, are used.

You may also be contacted by a bankrupt insurance company that will offer a policy at a huge discount. This should alert, since discounts as such are not possible in the field of OSAGO, with the exception of the bonus-malus coefficient, because pricesregulated by the Central Bank. Therefore, there is a possibility that they are trying to sell you a fake.

An offer to issue a policy retroactively should also arouse suspicion. Most likely, the license was revoked from the insurer, but the company is trying to earn at least something in the end. Her forms are no longer valid, of course.

Checking against the PCA database

So, how to check the OSAGO policy by last name, registration plate, driver's license number or the number of the insurance itself?

You can do this quickly and free of charge using the website of the Russian Union of Motor Insurers (RSA). A number of other resources also offer this option, but they still request information from the PCA database.

It is enough to enter the number of the form, and you will receive information about the date of its issue, the name of the company for which it is issued, and the status of its license.

Well, if you take care of the question of how to check the OSAGO policy before the purchase, and not after. Therefore, it is desirable that your mobile phone or tablet has Internet access. Ask the insurance agent for a form in which he intends to enter your data, and punch his number on the PCA database. It is clear that if the document has the status of "damaged", "stolen", "lost", and also if the name of the insurance company does not match, then you cannot buy such a policy.

Visual check

How to check if the OSAGO policy is valid if there is no Internet access at hand? Examine the document carefully. Policy forms are printed by Goznak, so they havesigns of protection. If you wish, you can "expose" even a very high-quality fake.

1. The form should be 9-10 mm longer than a regular sheet of A4 paper.
2. Feel, stroke the front surface of the policy. The original has a special fabric texture (like a banknote) and feels different from ordinary paper.
3. Hold the form up to a light source to see if it has any watermarks on it. You should see a large PCA logo.
4. Inspect the back of the document and find a 2mm wide metallic thread. It should be diving and not felt to the touch. If the thread is just glued on or easy to feel, you have a fake in your hands.
5. On close inspection, you will see small red hairs on the surface of the blank. They glow in the ultraviolet. It is clear that you most likely do not have a special lamp, but please note that it is almost impossible to recreate these fibers.
6. The small guilloche pattern, which forms the green background of the policy, is too complicated for a conventional printer, and is also made by intaglio printing - the lines are, as it were, pressed into the paper. If you run your finger over the pattern on the original, you can feel the relief.
7. The document must be green and have the EEE series. As of May 1, 2015, the green BBB series forms are no longer used, and the blue AAA series forms are completely obsolete.
8. The ten-digit number should be embossed and palpable.

Following procedure

It is useful not only to know howcheck the OSAGO policy, but also how the registration procedure looks in general.

If you work with an agent, be sure to ask to see the contract with the insurer he represents and the power of attorney to sign contracts. Make sure you have received all the necessary documents after completing the transaction:

• policy;
• policy rules;
• windshield sticker;
• copy of payment receipt;
• Accident notification forms;
• list of branches of the insurer.

Before that, it would be good to check if the license of the insurance company is valid. This can be done on the website of the Central Bank.

If a fake is noticed too late?

What to do if you have taken care of the question of how to check the OSAGO policy too late - already after you were sold fake insurance.

If the worst has not yet happened, issue a real policy as soon as possible, and take the "fake" to the police and write a statement. Then you will not be prosecuted for forging documents.

If an accident occurs, and through your fault, be prepared for the fact that you will have to pay the damage yourself. In theory, you can also go to the police. If those who sold you a fake are found, then you can try to recover the amount of damage caused in an accident from these persons.

Now you know how to check the OSAGO policy using the PCA database and carefully examining the form for security marks.