In order to help customers and members understand Vietnam’s current regulations on compulsory insurance for motor vehicles to ensure their rights as well as avoid fines when driving vehicles, LawNet would like to summarize information related to this type of insurance in the article below.
Article table of contents
1. Fines for not having/carrying an unexpired Certificate of civil liability insurance for motor vehicles
According to Article 4 of Circular No. 22/2016/TT-BTC of the Ministry of Finance of Vietnam, motor vehicle owners traveling on roads within the territory of Vietnam shall buy compulsory insurances under provisions hereof and other relevant regulations of laws. Besides compulsory insurance contract, motor vehicle owners may enter into voluntary insurance contracts.
Thus, it can be seen that, currently, there are 02 types of insurance for motor vehicles, which are compulsory insurance and voluntary insurance. Compulsory insurance's exact name is the Certificate of civil liability insurance for motor vehicles, while voluntary insurance is fully called the Certificate of Voluntary Insurance.
In particular, if the motor vehicle owner does not buy the Certificate of civil liability insurance for motor vehicles, he/she may be fined according to the provisions of Decree No. 100/2019/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government, while the voluntary insurance may or may not be available.
Specifically, according to Clause 2 Article 58 of the Law on Road Traffic 2008 of Vietnam, the Certificate of civil liability insurance for motor vehicles is one of the papers that the driver shall carry when operating a vehicle.
According to Article 21 of Decree No. 100/2019/NĐ-CP, a fine ranging from VND 100,000 to VND 200,000 shall be imposed for any person operating a motorcycle or moped and the like without carrying an unexpired Certificate of civil liability insurance for motor vehicles; and a fine ranging from VND 400,000 to VND 600,000 shall be imposed for any person operating a car, tractor or car-like vehicle without an unexpired Certificate of civil liability insurance for motor vehicles.
2. Benefits when purchasing compulsory insurance for motor vehicles
According to Article 13 of Circular No. 22/2016/TT-BTC, where a covered occurrence occurs, the insurer shall indemnify for the amount that the motor vehicle owner paid or is going to pay as an indemnity to victims.
Where the vehicle owner died or lives with total permanent disability due to the occurrence, the insurer shall directly indemnify for such damaged people.
According to Article 5 of Circular No. 22/2016/TT-BTC, the insurance coverage includes:
- Deaths, injuries or property damage other than those specified in insurance contracts to the third party by motor vehicles.
Deaths and injuries of passengers as a results of motor vehicle accidents prescribed in contracts of carriage.
Limits of liability are specified as follows:
- A death as a result of motor vehicle accidents shall be indemnified at the rate of 100 million dong per person per occurrence.
- Property damage by two-wheelers, tricycle, motorbikes and the like (including vehicles for the disabled) shall be indemnified at the rate of 50 million dong per occurrence.
- Property damage by cars, tractor, construction vehicles, and vehicles for agricultural or forestry uses and other types of military vehicles for the use of national security and defense (including trailers and semi-trailers pulled by motor cars or tractors) shall be indemnified at the rate of 100 million dong per occurrence.
In which: The limit of liability means the maximum amount of money that the insurer pay for deaths, bodily injuries or property damage to the third party and passengers for each undesirable occurrence by motor vehicles covered by compulsory insurance.
3. Application for indemnities
Insurers shall cooperate with vehicle owners, victims, the police authority and relevant entities to collect evidence of occurrences prior to making applications for indemnities. The application includes the following documents:
* Documents related to the vehicle and driver (certified true copies of the insurer after comparison with the originals):
- Vehicle Registration Certificate;
- Driving license;
- The driver’s ID card or passport or personal identity documents;
- Certificates of insurance.
* Documents as proof of damage to human (copies of medical facilities or certified true copies of insurers), or the following documents depending on the seriousness of injuries/deaths:
- Injury Certificate;
- Hospital discharge slip;
- Certificate of undergoing surgery;
- Medical record;
- Certificate of death (if the victim died).
* Evidences of property damage:
- Valid invoices or documents on repairs or replacement of damaged property by facilities designated by the insurer at the motor vehicle’s account or approved by the insurer.
- Documents as proof of reasonable expenses for mitigating damage or according to instructions of insurer.
* Copies of competent authority’s documents related to the occurrence (except for those specified in Clause 5 Article 14 of Circular No. 22/2016/TT-BTC):
- Scene examination record;
- Photo of accident scene (if any);
- Record of examination of involved vehicles;
- Report on initial investigation conclusion;
- Other relevant documents (if any).
* In case of the absence of documents specified in clause 4 Article 14 of Circular No. 22/2016/TT-BTC and the estimated damage of under 10 million dong, the application for indemnity shall include documents specified in clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article and:
- Traffic accident record certified by the competent authority where the traffic accident occurs. A traffic accident record shall include:
+ Date of accident and place of accident;
+ Information provided by the motor vehicle owner or driver causing the accident, victims or representative of victims, or witnesses (if any). The above mentioned information provider shall specify their name, ID card No., and address.
+ Description of traffic accident scene and damage of vehicles (enclosed with sketches or photos);
- Accident damage assessment record made by the insurer or authorized person.
- Other relevant documents (if any).
4. Cases in which insurers shall not be liable for any damage incurred
According to Article 12 of Circular No. 22/2016/TT-BTC, insurers shall not be liable for any damage incurred in the following cases:
- The vehicle owner, driver or victim intentionally causes damage to his/herself.
- The driver or vehicle owner deliberately runs away from his/her civil liability after the traffic accident.
- The driver does not obtain a driving license or obtain an inappropriate driving license. Where the driver whose driving license is temporarily or permanently withdrawn shall be considered as driving without a driving license.
- Traffic accidents results in indirect consequences: decreases in commercial value, or losses associated with the use of damaged property.
- Property is stolen or robbed in the traffic accident.
- Wars, terrorism attacks or earthquakes occur.
- Loss or damage of special property includes: gold, silver, and gemstones, valuable papers such as money, antiques, valuable paintings or pictures, dead bodies or corpses.
Nguyen Trinh
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