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The war between insurers and auto services continues, and the only loser is the average citizen. The RCA policy could become more expensive as the amount of damages increases from year to year. Compared to 2017, in 2019 the average damage per accident doubled, according to data from ASF.
In the first six months of the year alone, half of the damages have yet to be paid. Auto services complain that insurers are late in paying and insurers complain that repairs are overrated.
During all this time, the driver has the car locked up and has to take more money out of his pocket for insurance from year to year.
The average price of an hour of work reached 150 lei this year.. But there are services that require even three times more. Insurers are slow to pay for damages. There are also situations where identical parts are overpriced.
According to the Financial Supervisory Authority, the average amount of damage almost doubled from 2017 to 2019, which leads to the increase in compulsory insurance. In addition to the driver’s age and traffic history, the price of the RCA policy is also influenced by the amount of damages paid each year by insurers.
Alexandru Grigore, administrator of a service: “If we collect our money in 30 days, 45 and we charge 150 lei + VAT, but to collect it and not put ourselves in total insecurity and collect it in 90, 120 days, maybe even more, we would be happy to to be able to obtain the parts that we invest in the car, not be in a situation of getting stuck and blocking cars in service“.
Mihnea Tobescu, director of an insurance company: “If a normal labor rate is between 100 and 300 lei, depending on the make of the car, the respective service, there are also multiples, double-triple this rate.. “
Bogdan Chirițoiu, President of the Competition Council: “If the Commission forces us to remove the obligation of the maximum rate in RCA, so it remains only a reference rate, it is no longer a fixed rate. If we do, My recommendation is to do the same with car services and have a referral rate there. Because if the price of repairs goes too high, it automatically goes up the price of RCA. There is currently no mechanism to prevent a service from charging exorbitant prices. “
The Competition Council has launched an investigation into the charges applied to auto services.
Bogdan Chirițoiu, President of the Competition Council: “In this investigation We suspect that there are agreements between various car services to increase the price of the repairs they carry out and in these agreements they are also assisted by the manufacturers, who are interested in selling their auto parts at a higher price and even have agreements with insurance companies. It’s a fairly extensive investigation, but it will be completed soon. “
Reference rates for RCA policies start at 698 lei and exceed 2,800 lei, depending on the age of the driver and the car’s engine.
Average damage per accident
2016: 5,998 lei
2017: 7,483 lei
2018: 11,331 lei
2019: 13,151 lei
source: ASF
The evolution of the cost per hour of labor
2017: 91 lei
2018: 120 lei
2019: 141 lei
2020: 151 lei
source: Office of Automobile Insurers
Edited by Georgiana Marina
