online ride-hailing vehicles are insured as "family cars", and insurance companies do not pay compensation
2024-09-03
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in recent years, driving online ride-hailing vehicles has become the choice of more and more flexible workers in society. due to the large difference in commercial insurance premiums between operating vehicles and family-owned vehicles, many online ride-hailing vehicle owners insure their vehicles as family cars in order to reduce costs. after an accident occurs, the owner claims compensation from the insurance company, resulting in disputes.
recently, the people's court of linhai city, zhejiang province, heard a case involving an insurer's subrogation claim dispute and determined that the insurance company was not liable for compensation within the scope of commercial insurance liability. the court ordered the car owner to pay the plaintiff 45,000 yuan in advance for vehicle repair costs.
xiao li, a young man from linhai, has no fixed job. he heard that driving an online car-hailing service is both profitable and free, so he bought a new energy vehicle worth more than 100,000 yuan at the beginning of last year. when xiao li bought insurance, he found that the insurance premium for insuring a family car was only more than 5,000 yuan, but if it was insured as an operating vehicle, the premium would rise to more than 10,000 yuan. after buying the car, xiao li was not well-off, and it was really painful to spend more than 10,000 yuan on insurance. xiao li asked his friends who drove online car-hailing services around him, and he really asked about the "trick" to save money. so xiao li followed suit and lied to insurance company a that the vehicle was used for commuting to and from get off work, and on may 19, 2023, he insured commercial insurance as a family vehicle.
afterwards, xiao li registered on several platforms and started driving online ride-hailing vehicles. in order to make a profit as soon as possible, xiao li sometimes took orders in the middle of the night. due to the high frequency of receiving orders, xiao li became a gold medal car owner on the ride-hailing platform, and his income increased day by day.
on september 25, 2023, xiao li received an order with the destination of linhai railway station. because the train was about to depart, the passengers were extremely anxious and kept urging xiao li to drive faster. xiao li used the opposite lane to overtake for a long distance, but unexpectedly collided with xiao wang's vehicle, which was driving normally in the opposite lane, causing a traffic accident in which both vehicles were damaged. the linhai municipal public security bureau traffic police brigade determined that xiao li was fully responsible for the accident.
after the accident, xiao wang repaired his car at a 4s shop, which cost him 47,000 yuan, and applied for compensation from insurance company b, which he had insured. insurance company a paid a compensation of 2,000 yuan within the scope of compulsory motor vehicle traffic accident liability insurance. after paying the insurance compensation to xiao wang, insurance company b obtained the right of subrogation in accordance with the law, and sued xiao li in court to demand that xiao li pay the 45,000 yuan vehicle repair fee advanced by insurance company b, and insurance company a assumed the compensation liability within the scope of insurance liability.
during the trial, insurance company a argued that it had assumed insurance liability within the scope of compulsory traffic insurance, and believed that when xiao li insured his car with insurance company a, he insured it as a family car. however, in fact, xiao li became a full-time online car-hailing driver, and the nature of use of the new energy vehicle had changed from a family car to an operating vehicle. according to the insurance terms, insurance company a will not provide compensation within the scope of commercial third-party liability insurance.
after hearing the case, the linhai court held that xiao li insured the vehicle in the name of a family car, and insurance company a also charged insurance premiums according to the standards for family cars. in the actual use of the vehicle, xiao li drove the vehicle for the purpose of profit and continued to engage in operational activities, which had changed the nature of the vehicle's use and caused a significant increase in the risk level of the insured subject matter involved in the case. as the insured, xiao li should notify insurance company a in a timely manner, and insurance company a can choose to increase the premium or terminate the insurance contract and return the remaining premium. xiao li failed to fulfill the obligation to notify and required insurance company a to compensate for the accident loss within the scope of commercial insurance liability, which violated the principles of good faith and fairness. in addition, insurance company a has stated the relevant exemption clauses in the insurance policy and other documents, and has highlighted them in black and bold, fulfilling its obligation to remind and explain to the insured. in summary, the court made the above judgment.
xiao li regretted his original decision very much and said that he fully accepted the court's decision, which he regarded as a lesson for himself. he also said that he would remind the online car-hailing drivers around him to purchase insurance truthfully.
observation and thinking
only by taking out insurance with integrity can you effectively protect your rights and interests
article 52 of the insurance law of the people's republic of china stipulates that if the risk level of the subject matter of insurance increases significantly during the validity period of the contract, the insured shall promptly notify the insurer in accordance with the contract, and the insurer may increase the insurance premium or terminate the contract in accordance with the contract. if the insured fails to perform the obligation to notify as provided for in the preceding paragraph, the insurer shall not be liable for paying the insurance money for the insurance accident caused by the significant increase in the risk level of the subject matter of insurance.
motor vehicles can be divided into two types according to their use: family vehicles and commercial vehicles. insurance companies set different insurance premiums for them. the premiums for commercial vehicles are higher because they have more mileage and are used more frequently than family vehicles, which leads to a higher probability of traffic accidents. in this case, xiao li changed his private car from a family car to a commercial car, which is a situation of "increasing the degree of danger of the vehicle". he also failed to fulfill his obligation to notify the insurance company, so the insurance company could only pay for the compulsory traffic insurance and refused to pay for the commercial insurance.
the judge reminded that if the car owner buys the vehicle for online ride-hailing, he should inform the insurance company truthfully when purchasing insurance and insure it according to the standards for operating vehicles. if a private car owner engages in full-time or part-time online ride-hailing business after purchasing household commercial insurance, he should also inform the insurance company in a timely manner and go through the policy change procedures in accordance with relevant regulations. in addition, when purchasing vehicle insurance, the majority of car owners should carefully read the insurance contract, especially the special agreements and exemption clauses, to further clarify their rights and responsibilities to avoid unnecessary losses. (qian chaoqun luo jinwen)
(source: people's court daily)
