Direct indemnity

Direct indemnity (or compensation) is the procedure for reimbursement of damages applied in Italy to accidents taking place after 1.02.2007.

That means that, in case of an accident, whether or not the other driver signs the friendly accident recognition form (CAI form), your insurance company opens a procedure that leads to direct payment of the damage (naturally, where it is ascertained that you are in the right). This is what happens in most cases, with a few exceptions, in which the old system applies (accidents involving more than two vehicles, accident without effective collision between the vehicles, accidents occurring abroad).

With the previous system – as we know – in case of accident, we sued the other driver’s insurance company to receive fair and adequate compensation.
This either occurred in an amicable manner, with contacts between the insurance companies, or in the form of a dispute, through your lawyer or one furnished by the company.
Direct indemnity was presented (by the insurance companies, naturally, and by the reference legislator) as a change in favor of the citizen, with the declared intention of obtaining compensation more rapidly.
Actually, it was an obvious move to save the insurance companies, with effects that are normally penalizing for the victims of road accidents.
With the current system, starting from reporting of the accident, the insurance company takes control of the matter and requests compensation from the accident inspectorate which is part of its own insurance.
In short, it is your insurance that litigates (pretends to litigate) with itself. The result is that you are offered compensation that is valid only for the damage items anchored to certain parameters (vehicular damage with the bill for repairs already paid).
In all the other cases (vehicular damage on cost estimate, damage for unusability of the vehicle, physical damage, etc.) the compensatory offer is normally wholly inadequate. This occurs most obviously as regards physical damage (see).
It is all accompanied by an effective disinformation campaign given out by the insurance companies that, with the declared perspective of more rapid payments (which often are anything but) convince their clients that it is not even possible any longer to have a lawyer attend to the issue of compensation (this is false).

Aware of the issues with the system, the civil courts (starting with the Turin Bar) have done their best to correct them and have said – by means of important decisions – that direct indemnity has not done away with the previous system, but is only an alternative. In practice, the judges have ruled that the citizen, in case of accident, may – as his free and unquestionable discretion – make his demands either to the company or – alternatively – to the other driver’s company.

It is therefore – now as before – possible to work through a lawyer to obtain fair compensation; obviously net of the legal expenses, that will be repaid by the company charged with compensation.

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