Call the police or traffic police?
From the point of view of the Federal Law “On Road Safety”, an accident is “an event that occurred during the movement of a vehicle on the road and with its participation, in which people were killed or injured, vehicles, structures, cargo was damaged or other material damage was caused”.
Therefore, if an icicle or a block of snow fell on the car when you drove past the building, call the traffic police.
If the car was parked at the entrance – the police. If there are casualties (even with minor injuries), call an ambulance.
Collect evidence
Before the police arrive, take pictures and video of the damage (close-up and long shot).
Remove the roof of the house from different angles.
It is important that the video records the date and time of the incident.
And also the place of the incident – the house number, street name, neighboring houses should be included in the frame.
Find witnesses (it is advisable to ask them to take a picture next to the injured car), write down their contact numbers. See where the outdoor surveillance cameras are located – their data helps to restore the image of the incident.
Arriving police officers draw up an official report of the on-site inspection and indicate visible damage to the car. The amount of damage must then be determined.
How to correctly estimate the amount of damage?
Expert commentary
Sergei Smirnov, lawyer
– To do this, you need to contact an expert to draw up a certificate of inspection of the damaged car and calculate the cost of restoration repairs.
The perpetrator of the incident must also reimburse you for the costs of the investigation.
Call insurance?
The OSAGO policy does not cover such damage. But if you have an hull, the case may be recognized as insured and you can get compensation from the insurance company.
An insurance company may refuse if:
- the car was not insured against all types of damage, but only against theft and death, for example;
- the resulting damage was previously excluded from the insurance cover of the policy;
- you parked in violation of the traffic rules;
- you parked the car near the house, next to it there are signs warning of ice, snow and icicles falling from the roof or in violation of traffic rules.
How do you find the culprit?
If payments under the insurance policy do not seem to you, you must file a claim demanding compensation for the damage caused. With this claim you can try to resolve the matter in court and receive compensation. An inquiry must be attached to the claim.
It is only important to find out to whom to present this claim and how to behave so that the alleged perpetrators do not waste time and shift the blame onto each other. Depending on the specific situation, the management company, the owner of the building or the tenant of a particular apartment will pay for the damage.
The owner is responsible for falling snow or icicles from the roof of a utility building. And only him. This is in case the building owner tries to “send” you to the company he pays to clean the roof. You can find out who owns the building by getting an excerpt from the USRN at the MFC or on the State Services website.
A block of snow has fallen from an apartment building – the claim should be made to the management company. If you live in this property, the name, details and address of the UK or VvE are stated on the payment.
If not, go to the Housing Reform website. To find information about the management company, it is enough to enter the address of the house in the search bar in the “Housing Fund” section.
Are they trying to pin the blame on you?
This can happen if your home has warning signs for possible snow/icicles.
But such a sign does not take the blame away from the management company for poor roof cleaning. Then you are protected by the Consumer Protection Act.
If snow blocks fall from the roof of the house, you have received poor service as a consumer. And he has the right to claim damages.
Notify the management company of your intention to go to court – perhaps the organization will compromise.
If not, go to court, most likely he will be on your side.
“It’s the renter’s fault!”
Sometimes the management company reports that the owner of the balcony from which the icicle fell must pay for the damage.
This is the case if the owner of the apartment arbitrarily redecorated the balcony without the permission of the administration.
According to article 290 of the Civil Code, unauthorized modified balconies do not belong to common house property and therefore the owner of the apartment is responsible for cleaning them.
If the balcony is “normal”, then the management company must clear it of icicles in a timely manner and pay your damage accordingly.
Expert commentary
Sergey Smirnov, lawyer:
“Most likely you will have to file a lawsuit. But it is profitable!
Management companies, HOAs and municipal organizations in most cases are in no hurry to deposit money on a voluntary basis. They prefer to wait for the court’s decision. This has both pluses and minuses.
The downside is that the case can take a long time to be dealt with in court. Sometimes the process takes several months.
Of the pluses – when applying the provisions of the law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”, in addition to compensation for damages, you can receive additional money in the form of a forfeiture and a fine. And that’s half the damage.
The courts generally accept such requirements. And no matter what organization is engaged in building maintenance – commercial or state-owned.
The difference is only in the receipt of money by court order. If the debtor is a commercial structure, you can get money through the bailiff service or by sending a writ of execution to the debtor’s bank.
When the debtor is a budget institution, the money is paid by the treasury of the relevant municipality.