If the new car is seriously damaged by the collision, the owner of the car not only demands compensation from the owner of the other car and the insurance company for the purchase of the vehicle, but also claims compensation for other expenses such as vehicle value-added tax, vehicle purchase tax, vehicle insurance premium, mortgage loan service fee, etc. In the event that both parties agree to calculate the relevant amount of compensation in accordance with the provisions of the vehicle replacement, what losses can be compensated in accordance with the provisions of the vehicle replacement?
Please see the Lingbao Municipal People's Court hearing a case of a dispute over liability for a motor vehicle traffic accident.
Case review
On May 4, 2023, Cao bought a Wuling brand cargo truck, and the day after he picked up the new car, Cao's vehicle was hit miserably due to a sudden car accident. According to the traffic police department, Cao was not responsible for the accident, and the owner of the other party, Zhang, was fully responsible. Cao approached the perpetrator Zhang and his insurance company to negotiate compensation, but due to the large dispute between the two parties over the compensation items and amounts, Cao had no choice but to sue Zhang, the owner of the accident and the Sanmenxia Central Branch of Ping An Property Insurance Co., Ltd., to the court, requesting the court to order the two defendants to compensate the plaintiff for the loss of the plaintiff's vehicle and other expenses totaling RMB 74,278.94.
Heard by the courts
In the course of hearing the case, the Lingbao Municipal People's Court considered that the plaintiff Cao's newly purchased vehicle was seriously damaged and difficult to repair, and guided both parties to calculate the relevant compensation amount in accordance with the provisions on vehicle replacement without conducting a loss appraisal. In the end, the court held that if a traffic accident occurs between motor vehicles, the party at fault shall bear the liability for compensation; Where both parties are at fault, responsibility is to be shared in proportion to their respective faults. In the event of a traffic accident caused by a motor vehicle insured with compulsory traffic insurance and commercial liability insurance at the same time, the insurer underwriting the compulsory insurance of the motor vehicle shall first compensate within the liability limit of the compulsory insurance; For the shortfall of the part, the insurer underwriting the commercial insurance of motor vehicles shall compensate in accordance with the provisions of the insurance contract; If it is still insufficient or has not taken out commercial insurance for motor vehicles, the infringer shall compensate for it.
The small ordinary passenger car driven by the defendant Zhang was insured with the defendant Ping An Property Insurance Sanmenxia Branch Company for compulsory traffic insurance and commercial three liability insurance, and the insurer underwriting the commercial insurance of motor vehicles, the defendant Ping An Property Insurance Sanmenxia Branch Company, should compensate the plaintiff Cao for the replacement fee of 63,764.25 yuan in accordance with the insurance contract, and also obtain the property right of the residual value of the plaintiff's damaged vehicle (the plaintiff Cao should cooperate in completing the transfer of ownership of the damaged vehicle).
The service fees such as liquidated damages for the mortgage loan sued by the plaintiff are expenses incurred by the plaintiff in choosing the way to purchase the car, and cannot be used as the basis for calculating the loss of the vehicle, so it is not supported. Therefore, it was decided in accordance with the law: the defendant Ping An Property Insurance Co., Ltd. Sanmenxia Central Branch Company should compensate the plaintiff Cao for the replacement cost of the vehicle in the amount of RMB 63,764.25 (deducting the residual value of the damaged vehicle of the plaintiff Cao); Plaintiff Cao's other litigation claims were rejected. After the judgment, neither party appealed, and the civil judgment of the first instance took effect.
What the judge said
Article 12 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases of Compensation for Damages in Road Traffic Accidents stipulates that if a party requests the infringer for compensation for the purchase of a vehicle replacement cost equivalent to the value of the damaged vehicle at the time of the traffic accident due to the loss or inability to repair the vehicle, the people's court shall support it.
In this case, the plaintiff Cao's vehicle was seriously damaged and difficult to repair, and both parties agreed to calculate the relevant compensation amount in accordance with the provisions on vehicle replacement, and the plaintiff Cao claimed compensation for vehicle purchase fees, vehicle value-added tax, vehicle purchase tax, vehicle insurance premiums, license inspection fees, compulsory insurance premiums for motor vehicle traffic accident liability, mortgage loan interest and liquidated damages, mortgage loan service fees and other expenses totaling RMB 74,278.94.
What exactly are the costs of vehicle replacement? The judge held that the plaintiff Cao's vehicle purchase price of RMB 50,442.48, vehicle value-added tax of RMB 6,557.52, vehicle purchase tax of RMB 5,044.25, license plate inspection fee of RMB 520, and compulsory motor vehicle traffic accident liability insurance of RMB 1,200 were the vehicle replacement costs that the defendant Ping An Property Insurance Sanmenxia Branch Company should compensate in accordance with the insurance contract, totaling RMB 63,764.25.
Calculating the losses of the infringed party according to the replacement cost of the vehicle can not only avoid the litigation burden caused by the initiation of the appraisal procedure, but also the insurance company that underwrites the vehicle also obtains the residual value of the damaged vehicle. The efficient trial of this case has achieved good results satisfactory to both parties, and also has certain reference significance for the handling of similar cases.
Source: Lingbao Municipal Court