In European countries, motorists handle the vast majority of road accidents without police involvement
This useful and very convenient invention is simply called – European accident report form. After its introduction, the European accident report form (which happened in most countries immediately after the end of World War II) sharply reduced government spending on maintaining road services. Most of the work was shifted to insurance companies, which now have to handle the circumstances of the incident themselves. In extreme cases, of course, it is possible to go to court.
A significant role is also played by the numerous standard schemes, guided by which even a novice on the roads can determine the degree of his guilt. And an insurance policy can serve as a quite reliable protection for him. After carrying out all necessary actions after an accident, he can leave his contact details and simply drive away, confident that without any documents from government agencies, his insurance company will pay for all damages.
Another extremely curious thing is direct settlement of losses. Its advantage is that direct settlement allows the client not to deal with the often hostile and indifferent insurers of the at-fault party. A characteristic feature is that there is no alternative (as, for example, in Russia) – to contact one’s own or another’s insurer. You can only seek justice from your own.
Of course, this increases the responsibility of insurance companies. Striving to keep the client, they can offer a qualitatively new level of service. This is the certain meaning of this innovation – a novelty because at first it was not like that at all. Direct settlement arose precisely after European countries had already accumulated sufficient experience in auto insurance.