SN: The fact of repairing the car should not affect the determination of compensation of civil liability

The fact of repairing the vehicle by the injured party should not affect the determination of the amount of compensation of civil liability – according to the Wednesday resolution of the Supreme Court.

As indicated in the main thesis of this resolution, “determining the amount of compensation from civil liability insurance, as the equivalent of hypothetical repair costs, is also permissible when the injured person repaired the vehicle.”

– The claim for damages arises when the first negative consequences of the event causing the damage and the creation of this claim is independent of whether the injured person repaired the car and whether he has such an intention – said SN judge Monika Koba said in the justification of the resolution.

The resolution adopted in the Civil Chamber of Supreme Court on Wednesday concerned a number of problems that the Supreme Court presented in March last year in Poznań. These issues resulted in the canvas of examining the insurance company against the judgment of the District Court favorable to the car owner.

The Poznań court, when considering an appeal in this case, decided to ask, above all, about the basic disputed issue, i.e. whether in the event of repair of a damaged car by the injured party, the compensation due to him should be calculated on the basis of the actual costs of this repair already made, or on the basis of hypothetical costs, i.e. a cost estimate prepared, for example, based on an expert opinion.

Legal discussion in this matter has been taking place for years, various rulings and resolutions have already been made. For example, a financial spokesman in another of such cases shared the view that “compensation in the amount corresponding to the amount of hypothetical repair costs should also be paid in situations where the injured person sold the vehicle or repaired the vehicle by himself.” Otherwise – as he argued – there may be negative consequences for the poorest people, which are often forced to “make makeshift repairs”, or are forced to sell a damaged vehicle, although for the funds they cannot buy a new car responsible for damaged class.

Marcin Jabłoński (PAP)

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