What's New in OSAGO for 2010

What's new with OSAGO (compulsory third-party motor liability insurance) in the current year, 2010? Above all, it's about rising rates. The current situation is such that unfair dumping practices by many insurers, aimed at poaching clients, combined with a rise in road accidents, have left some insurance companies facing a question of survival.

That's why, in the view of many experts, OSAGO in 2010 is inseparably tied to rising rates for compulsory motor liability cover.

This is borne out by the fact that insurers' loss ratios have grown significantly. One reason is the devaluation of the rouble.

The structure of Russia's car fleet is such that a considerable share of cars are made by foreign manufacturers, which means spare parts are bought in foreign currency. Naturally, as the exchange rate shifts, the cost of spare parts rises too, and with it the cost of repair work.

In the view of many insurers, the base rate needs to be raised. At the same time, clients' interests must also be taken into account, which means revisiting the terms. OSAGO cover needs to be significantly increased, meaning the liability limit needs to be raised.

Whereas OSAGO currently, that is, in 2010, pays out a maximum of 160,000 roubles, amendments to the law being planned by Russia's Ministry of Finance would raise this sum to half a million. This change is expected to take effect at the start of the coming year, 2011.

Even so, despite the trend toward higher OSAGO premiums, car owners have real opportunities to save when taking out a policy.

To get an OSAGO calculator to genuinely surprise you, you can take advantage of special offers from insurers or use the services of an insurance broker.

An extra way to cut your OSAGO premium is to take advantage of the new-client promotions that many insurance companies run. They offer a discount for clients who leave their old insurance company.

Besides this, there are also special seasonal offers on car insurance. But you can shrink the final figure an OSAGO calculator spits out even further by going through an insurance broker.

Brokers are interested in growing their client base, for which they receive commission from insurance companies. This benefits the broker, the insurance company (which gets a tax break), and the client, who ends up with cheaper OSAGO cover.

But here too, if the discount percentage on offer is very high, the odds increase that it's simply a promotional gimmick. The real costs will end up much higher than promised.

Overall, serious changes are brewing in OSAGO for 2010, and it's fairly hard to say whether they'll work in drivers' favour.

Still, the planned increase in the payout limit is cause for some optimism and suggests that in the near future OSAGO could genuinely become a real mechanism for protecting car owners' interests.