Compensation After a Car Accident: Who Pays and How Long It Takes

Short answer: the at-fault driver's MTPL pays the injured party's compensation, within the limits set by Law no. 106/2022 — not your own insurer, if you are the injured party. The full steps and the claim form are on the How to file a claim page.

Who pays the compensation after an accident?

The at-fault driver's MTPL (compulsory motor third-party liability insurance) covers the damage caused to the injured party: bodily injury or death, including moral damages, the cost of repairing the damaged vehicle, and other material damage caused by damaging or destroying property.

If you caused the accident, your MTPL pays the other party — not you. For the repair of your own car, when you are at fault, MTPL does not apply: that is what a separate, voluntary CASCO policy is for.

It helps to distinguish the two possible roles in the same accident: as the at-fault driver, you do not approach your own insurer for compensation — instead, you give the injured party your policy details so they can file a claim with your MTPL insurer. As the injured party, the opposite applies: you approach the at-fault driver's insurer, not your own, unless you also hold a separate CASCO policy for your own car.

MTPL liability limits: how much the injured party can receive

Law no. 106/2022 sets maximum liability limits, the same for every domestic MTPL policy:

Besides these amounts, MTPL also covers the injured party's court costs — if the court ruling or the alternative dispute resolution is in their favour — and the cost of a single tow of the damaged vehicle from the accident scene. The part of the damage that exceeds these limits is not covered by MTPL.

First steps after a road accident

What to do right after the accident depends on how serious it is:

1. If there are injured people, or the drivers do not agree on the circumstances, the situation is not resolved through an amicable report — you need the competent authorities.
2. If the damage is purely material and both drivers agree on what happened, you can choose the amicable report (constatare amiabilă) instead of calling the police.
3. Note the other driver's details and their MTPL policy — the insurer's name, the policy series and number — you will need them to file the claim.
4. Photograph the accident scene and the damage to both vehicles as soon as possible.
5. Do not repair or move the damaged vehicle before documenting the situation, if it is safe to wait — the claim file relies on the actual state of the damage.

Besides the 48-hour notification, you have other obligations towards your MTPL insurer: to take every possible action to reduce the damage caused, and to give the insurer access to the vehicle involved in the accident, on request, so they can verify the circumstances.

The amicable report: when you can skip the police

The amicable report (constatare amiabilă) is the procedure in which two drivers involved in a minor accident fill in a standard form together, without calling the police. It applies when the claimed material damage does not exceed 15,000 lei and both drivers agree on the circumstances of the accident. Above this threshold, or if there is disagreement or bodily injury, the standard procedure requires the involvement of the competent authorities.

The steps for filling in the form, with examples, are covered in detail in the article Amicable Report Step by Step.

Notifying the insurer: the 48-hour deadline

You must notify the MTPL insurer that issued your policy about the accident within 48 hours of it happening. At the same time, tell the other people involved and the injured party that you hold a valid MTPL policy, and give them the details they need about your insurer.

Tip: keep your own MTPL policy details and the other driver's at hand from the first minutes after the accident — the series, the number, the insurer's name. You will need them both for the 48-hour notification and for the amicable report, if the damage does not exceed 15,000 lei.

How long does the payout take?

The payment deadline is not a fixed number you can calculate before filing the claim. The claim file is settled in the order and within the deadlines set by Law no. 106/2022, depending on the complexity of the case, the documents submitted and how complete the file is. A file with a correctly completed amicable report and clear documents cannot be compared, in processing time, to one involving bodily injury, several vehicles or a disagreement between the parties.

For this reason, any general estimate in days would be misleading for your specific case. For the exact status of your own file, direct contact with the claims department remains the most reliable source of information.

Where to file the claim and who to call

The full steps, the required documents and the claim form are on the How to file a claim page. For direct contact with the claims settlement department — including the dedicated MTPL line — the contact details are on the Contacts page.

Documents prepared in advance — the policy, an ID document, photographs of the damage, and, if it was used, the amicable report completed and signed by both parties — help the claims department assess the file faster. An incomplete file can extend the processing time, because the insurer has to request the missing documents separately.

What to remember

Before you call the insurer, it helps to gather the facts in one place: who is at fault, what damage there is, whether anyone was injured, and whether the material damage fits within the amicable-report threshold. This speeds up both the 48-hour notification and the rest of the claim.

1. The at-fault driver's MTPL pays the injured party, not your own insurer — for your own car, when you are at fault, you need CASCO.
2. The legal limits run from EUR 5,000 (moral damages, one person) to EUR 500,000 (bodily injury, several people); the amicable report covers material damage up to 15,000 lei.
3. Notify your MTPL insurer within 48 hours of the accident.
4. The payment deadline depends on the complexity of the file and Law no. 106/2022 — not on a fixed number of days.
5. The steps and the form are on the How to file a claim page; the contact numbers are on the Contacts page.