Historical compensation paid by a Romanian insurer, following a terrible accident in France

The accident, which took place on October 29, 2015, was extremely serious. A Romanian lorry, insured in Romania, transporting cars encountered problems with the braking system and collided with other vehicles stopped at a toll station located on the A8 Motorway, on the outskirts of the city of Nice in southeastern France. A total of 15 vehicles were seriously damaged and required the intervention of 70 firefighters.

As a result of the extremely violent impact, one person died, and eight others were injured, three of them in serious condition. In the subsequent investigation by the French authorities, it was discovered that the truck driver hit the barrier of the toll booth at a speed of 120 km/h.

In addition, it appears that the driver had experienced problems with the braking system several kilometers before the accident. Although no evidence of alcohol or drug use was found in the driver’s case, the expertise revealed that brake failures were the main cause of the tragedy.

18 million lei, historic compensation paid by a Romanian insurer

Following this devastating accident, the compensations paid by the Omniasig insurance company, responsible for insuring the truck, reached a total of approximately 18 million lei. However, the legal process is still ongoing and representatives of the insurance company continue to deal with the remaining claims.

“Until now, on this file, total compensations of approximately 18 million lei have been paid, of which: approximately 3 million lei are material damages and approximately 15 million lei were for bodily injury and death. The vast majority of the compensation requests in this case were settled amicably, but there are also cases settled in the courts in France. The claims of two of the injured persons are still open”, Gândul.ro notes.

This remarkable compensation represents an unprecedented situation in the insurance industry in Romania. Available official data shows that this compensation far exceeds other payments made under RCA policies during the past year.

The largest RCA compensation paid in 2023 by Romanian insurers

According to an analysis by the National Union of Insurance and Reinsurance Companies of Romania (UNSAR), the compensations paid in 2023 amounted to approximately 3.1 billion lei, covering approximately 292,000 claim files.

However, this number does not include claims approved at the branches of EU insurers that provide insurance activities in Romania based on the right of establishment (FOE), nor at those opened at the Insurance Guarantee Fund following the City Insurance and Euroins bankruptcies, nor the files of claims that are open but in reserve. Moreover, these damages are not included in the calculation of specific indicators such as the damage rate or the combined rate that are presented in the same report, UNSAR representatives claim. The largest compensation had a value of over one million euros and was paid to cover damages resulting from an accident in Italy.