UPDATE: GD no. 262 was published on the day of adoption, in the Official Gazette no. 268.
On March 28, the government extended the capping of RCA tariffs by another 3 months, until June 30.
The Government decision was adopted a day after the Minister of Finance, Marcel Boloș, launched the project in public consultation.
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu declared, at the beginning of the Executive meeting: “We want to combat this risk of excessive price increases due to the imbalances previously produced on this market and give a helping hand to Romanians, as the ASF recently did and seriously reduced RCA insurance in the case of carriers”.
After the adoption, the Minister of Finance, Marcel Boloş, said: “We decided to come up with this temporary but vital solution for drivers, in the context in which there are still unresolved problems in the car insurance market that translate into a market characterized by an imbalance between demand and supply”.
Details of the Ministry of Finance:
“The measure is necessary to combat the excessive increase in prices and the gradual stabilization of the RCA insurance market, in order to avoid negative effects in other sectors of the economy.
The maximum premium rates have been set at the level of each RCA insurer’s own premium rates as of February 28, 2023, with the possibility that they may be adjusted by a maximum percentage of 6.8%. The rates are applied in the case of RCA contracts concluded after the date of entry into force of the decision.
Distribution commissions related to RCA contracts are limited to a maximum of 8% of the first net of distribution expenses, for a period of 3 months from the date of entry into force of the decision.
The calculation of the compensation takes into account a rate that cannot exceed the average rate charged by rent-a-car agencies that offer car rental services without a driver and is granted only in the event that the damaged vehicle can no longer be used from the point of view of technical.
The maximum period for which compensation can be granted is 30 days, either from the date of issuing the repair authorization by the Romanian Police units, or from the date of issuing the repair entry document issued by the RCA insurer. The term may be extended only with the approval of the RCA insurer in justified situations, proven with documents.
In the case of vehicles that fall into the situation of total economic damage, the compensations cover the period between the date of damage detection and the date of submission of the compensation offer, in compliance with the terms provided by Law no. 132/2017, with subsequent amendments and additions. In this case, the amount of compensation representing the cost of temporary replacement of the damaged vehicle cannot exceed 25% of the market value of the damaged vehicle.
Currently, on the RCA insurance market in Romania, there is still a reluctance regarding the risk appetite of RCA insurers for certain categories of insured, so that on December 31, 2023, of the total number of vehicles in the national car park, respectively 10,333,293, a number of 7,053,399 vehicles were insured”, the statement also states.
Between January and March 2024, more than 21,000 requests for allocation of high-risk policyholders were registered, which means that each RCA insurer took on a number of approximately 2,600 such policyholders.
Such a situation has the potential to generate negative consequences, in the sense of additional pressure on prices after March 31, 2024, the date on which the effects of Government Decision no. 1326/2023″,
