From 2015 to 2019, about EUR 9.6 million was paid in MTPL indemnities for the damage done to roads, road structures and buildings. In the first quarter of 2020 alone, EUR 663 thousand have already been paid for damage to infrastructure objects or their destruction.

Janis Abasins, Chairman of the Board of the Insurers' Bureau (LTAB), said:

"Both the number of decisions made by insurers and the amount of claims paid are increasing year by year, which is mostly due to the fact that many infrastructure objects are equipped with video surveillance cameras, which allows detecting RTA even in cases where the culprit has left the scene."

In 2019, the total amount of MTPL indemnities for damage to or destruction of roads, road structures, buildings was EUR 2.24 million. This is almost twice as much as in 2015, when EUR 1.29 million were paid. The number of decisions made by insurers on the payment of indemnities related to damage to infrastructure objects was also growing rapidly - if in 2015 they were 985, in 2019 already 1,549 decisions were made.

In the last five years, the largest MTPL indemnity for damage to or loss of roads, road structures, buildings was paid in 2018 and amounted to EUR 943 thousand. The mentioned road traffic accident took place abroad and a vehicle registered in Latvia was involved in it. In its turn, the largest MTPL indemnity was paid last year - EUR 62 thousand - for the losses caused to infrastructure objects as a result of RTA in Latvia.

In a discussion organized by LTAB in February this year about the increase in the number of RTAs in public parking lots, representatives of several shopping centers indicated that approximately 90% of vehicles that cause RTAs in supermarket parking lots leave the scene. Meanwhile, State Police statistics show that 70% of such cases are detected if video surveillance cameras are installed in public facilities.

Janis Abasins, added that more and more public infrastructure objects are equipped with video surveillance cameras, which allow to identify RTAs and their vehicles.

"These statistics show that drivers need to be aware of the consequences of their actions if the owner of the damaged infrastructure turns to the police and then to the insurers for compensation for the damage caused. In turn, the guilty driver, if he has left the scene without notifying the police, will receive a claim with a request for compensation."

Source: ltab.lv