Response to a claim for damages

The company is not obligated to respond to the complaint

This is true.
The Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 2300-1) does not oblige sellers and manufacturers to respond to consumer complaints. So the company is not obliged to send a letter to the person in response; no one will punish the company for its absence.

However, one should not confuse a response with a reaction to a complaint.

If the consumer is right, then the company is clearly obliged to respond. That is, to fulfill the requirements set out in the claim or the part thereof that is actually justified, if the requirements are excessive.

Moreover, Law No. 2300-1 sets specific deadlines for the reaction (Articles 21, 22, 31):

1) replace the product:

• 7 days - as a general rule;
• 20 days - if an examination is needed;
• 30 days - if a similar product is not available;

2) return the money:

• 10 days.

The deadlines are counted from the day the demand is presented, that is, the claim. The day of its presentation is not the day of dispatch, but the day of receipt by the store (Appeal ruling of the Moscow City Court dated December 2, 2013 No. 11-36573).

What and how to write

Let's return to the situation with the flooding of the apartment. So, let's say that you don't agree at all that you are to blame for what happened. Because a pipe in the wall burst, for which, in accordance with the norms of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the management organization is responsible. But the neighbors believe that the easiest way to get money is from you, so they addressed their letter to you.

In the answer, it is necessary to indicate as accurately as possible and with reference to the current legislation the true culprit, as well as evidence of his guilt, that is, an act drawn up following the accident.

A correctly formatted response to a claim for damages (sample) will look something like this:

We have also prepared a file for you where you can use a template to compose your response to a claim for damages. The sample is above. Download the file at the end of the article.

This is important to know: Deadline for filing a claim under a service agreement

The main thing is to be extremely polite and keep it within two weeks.

The claim requires the goods along with money

It's a valid point, it shouldn't be like this.
The consumer can demand or exchange the product for a similar one, or accept it back and return the money.

He has no right to ask for both at the same time. This would be unfair, which is why law No. 2300-1 does not provide for it.

Consequently, if the seller sees that the claim contains two specified requirements at once, then he has the right to consider them mutually exclusive and not satisfy either one or the other.

The company cannot choose which of them to satisfy at its own discretion, since the law does not authorize it to do so. The right to choose a claim is the sole prerogative of the buyer.

Taking into account the above, when faced with a claim of mutually exclusive content, the organization has the right to leave it without satisfaction until the consumer clarifies his intentions (Appeal ruling of the Moscow City Court dated January 18, 2018 No. 33-1447/2018).

The claim was not received by the organization

A good argument.
The court may recognize it if the consumer fails to refute it. That is, it will not present to the court evidence that the claim was sent and delivered, and company representatives will deny in court that they received the letter by mail or that the citizen brought it personally to the organization’s office (Appeal ruling of the Moscow City Court dated October 4, 2016 No. 33-38862 /2016).

If a person provides evidence of sending a claim to a legal address or attempting to serve it in person, then the court will take his side. For example, the consumer can show his copy of the complaint, on which witnesses confirmed with their signatures that the company representatives refused to sign for receipt of the claim (Appeal ruling of the Moscow City Court dated June 28, 2018 No. 33-27889/2018).

The claim was submitted only orally

A good argument, but in practice, as a rule, it does not work.
The fact is that Law No. 2300-1 does not oblige consumers to express their complaints in writing. Therefore, judges count both the claims presented and the claims presented orally by citizens. True, provided that this is somehow confirmed.

For example, after a consumer’s request, the store sent the product for examination (Appeal ruling of the Moscow City Court dated June 2, 2017 No. 33-20220/2017). Or the claims were expressed by a person on the hotline, and the conversation with the operator was recorded (Appeal ruling of the Moscow City Court dated December 6, 2016 No. 33-48850/2016).

Procedure for compilation

Like any other document, a written claim for compensation for damages to the culprit of an accident must be drawn up according to a single template. If the driver cannot draw up such paper on his own, he needs to seek help from a lawyer. After all, a notary will not be able to certify a form with an incorrect structure or incomplete information. And without his signature, the judge will not consider the claim.

Structure

When drawing up a warning letter addressed to the guilty party, the injured car owner must adhere to the following sequence of text placement:

• A header that indicates who the letter is from and to whom. Placed at the very top of the sheet on the right side;
• Document's name. Located in the center of the form, above the main information. Acts as a header;
• Text of the claim;
• Attached applications. Submitted separately, under the text of the claim;
• Date of drawing up the claim and signature of the applicant.

Attention! Changing places or removing the listed data from the form is strictly prohibited. If the rules for filling out a claim are not followed, the citizen most likely will not have to count on voluntary compensation.

Mandatory information

Before submitting a document to a notary for signature, the driver should make sure that his claim includes all the necessary information. Namely:

• Initials and registration address of the person responsible for the accident;
• Last name, first name, patronymic, place of residence and contact telephone number of the applicant;
• Time, coordinates and circumstances of the traffic accident;
• Make, model and license plate numbers of both vehicles involved in the accident;
• Conclusion from the traffic police report on the initiation of an administrative or criminal (in case of death) case;
• Articles of the Code of Administrative Offenses regulating the procedure for covering losses in case of road accidents;
• The amount of recovery with a detailed description of expenses (what exactly the compensation money will be spent on);
• Appeal to the second party to the conflict with a request to voluntarily pay for the material or moral damage caused by it.

As a rule, the culprits without compulsory motor liability insurance react very actively to claims for compensation for damage in an accident. Otherwise, in addition to the costs of repairing the vehicle and treating the victim, they will also be responsible for the costs of legal proceedings (state fees, assistance from a lawyer, etc.). And this pleasure is not cheap.

Sample claim

We have found out what information needs to be presented in a written complaint to the guilty party, and in what order. For a better understanding of the rules for drawing up a claim, it is worth considering an example of such a document outlined below:

This sample claim for payment of damages for an accident is provided both for those at fault without insurance and for citizens with a compulsory motor liability insurance policy. How much time is allocated by law for consideration of this document, and what to do to the injured driver if the claim is ignored by the second party to the conflict, we will find out from the article below.

Additional materials

In order for the court to consider a written claim as evidence against the guilty party in an accident, it must be supported by certified documents, such as:

• Traffic police protocol on an administrative offense as of the day of the accident;
• A copy of an extract from the insurance company indicating the amount of funds paid for vehicle repairs or refusal of compensation;
• Conclusion from the service station with the total amount of damage caused;
• A certificate confirming the right of the injured person to receive payment from the culprit of the accident (PTS or general power of attorney).

With the specified list of documents, the victim must first contact a notary and certify his claim with his signature. And only after this the collected materials can be brought to court together with the statement of claim.

The claim came only by email

A similar argument, and also usually not accepted by the courts.
Filing a claim by email to a company is acceptable if its address is indicated in the contract or on the organization’s website. In this case, the courts take into account whether the company responded. If she entered into correspondence, then this fact confirms that the claim was received (Determination of the Moscow City Court dated October 19, 2018 No. 4g-12927/2018).

Moreover, an electronic claim is recognized if the contract or work order stipulates that the parties can exchange SMS messages or email about the progress of the contract (Appeal ruling of the Moscow City Court dated February 28, 2019 No. 33-5010/2019).

How to send a reply

The response to a pre-trial claim for damages can be delivered to the sender of the claim in person or by using the services of a courier. It is necessary to prepare 2 copies of the answer. On one of them, the recipient of the response must mark receipt (put the date, write his full name, sign).

You can send a response in a valuable letter with a description of the attachment. The inventory must include a detailed description of the document being sent (indicate details of the claim, type and amount of damage, etc.). In the future, this will eliminate the claim by the sender of the claim that the wrong document was sent to him.

Note! It is not necessary to send a letter with acknowledgment of delivery, because... its movement and receipt can be tracked using the identifier indicated on the receipt.

In addition, the document can be duplicated to the email address specified in the contract or in the claim.

The claim was accepted by an unauthorized employee

The argument seems reasonable, but it doesn’t work.
According to the judges, it does not matter who exactly accepted the claim (the CEO or the seller). The main thing is that in principle it was received by the company (Appeal ruling of the Moscow City Court dated September 22, 2017 No. 33-37991/2017).

Courts use Article 165.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on the delivery of legally significant messages. It says that such a message (the claim also applies to it) is considered delivered even if it is received by the person to whom it is sent, that is, the addressee.

Therefore, the companies’ reference to the fact that a postal employee, be it Russian Post or DHL, when handing over an envelope with a claim, was not convinced of the authority of the receiving employee and did not ask to show a power of attorney, is not accepted by the courts. The claim was delivered to the company’s address, this is enough (Appeal ruling of the Moscow City Court dated 03/06/2019 No. 33-10391/2019).

The company was ready to satisfy the claim

The effectiveness of this argument depends on whether the firm could actually satisfy the claim.
In itself, such an impulse does not count, since Law No. 2300-1 requires that the consumer’s demands be fulfilled, if they are justified. That is, no later than on the 7th day, the goods must be replaced, or no later than on the 10th day, the money must be delivered in cash or transferred to an account.

The response to the claim that the company was ready to pay is not recognized by the courts as fulfillment of the claim. After all, the calculation has not actually been made. The intention to satisfy the consumer’s demand without actually transferring funds to him is not the fulfillment of an obligation, and therefore cannot be the basis for exemption from paying a fine (Determination of the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated November 13, 2018 No. 80-KG18-10).

At the same time, in order to replace the product or return the money, the company must have a real opportunity to do this.

Therefore, the situation will be different if the company would be happy, for example, to exchange a defective product for a quality one, but the consumer did not provide it with such an opportunity. Let's say he did not come to the store with a claim to replace the product, but sent his complaint by mail. However, after the company sent him a letter in response saying that it was ready to make a replacement, he never came. Then the court should not impose any fine on the company for failure to satisfy the claim voluntarily (Determination of the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated July 31, 2018 No. 32-KG18-16).

Response to complaint

We have already said that responding to a complaint or ignoring a complaint is entirely the choice of its addressee.

There is not a single regulatory act that would oblige the addressee of a claim to respond to it. The fact is that in order to go to court in disputes for which the claim procedure is mandatory, you do not need a response to the claim, but the claim itself with evidence of the fact of its delivery.

Therefore, the addressee of the claim has several options for responding, namely:

• recognition of the claim and full repayment of damage. With this option, the response may be unnecessary; it is enough to agree with the author of the claim on the method and time of payment;
• recognition of the claim and sending a response to it with a proposal for stage-by-stage repayment of damage (installment plan);
• acknowledging the claim and sending a response requesting a deferment of repayment;
• partial recognition of damage. In this case, a response is sent containing objections to the amount;
• complete denial of damage. In this case, a response is sent containing a refutation of the claims;
• ignoring the claim. With this option, you just have to wait for the counterparty to go to court.

The claim was subsequently partially satisfied

It won't matter anymore.
A fine for failure to voluntarily satisfy consumer requirements is collected if the seller has not repaid the entire amount before the “victim” goes to court.

After the latter has submitted a statement of claim to the court, fulfillment of the requirements of the claim is not considered voluntary. Moreover, if the company did not pay all the claims, but only a part, or not immediately after filing the claim, but received a losing decision from the court of first instance. Payment of part of the debt after the occurrence of a claim is not a basis for exempting the seller from paying a fine (Determination of the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated February 13, 2018 No. 81-KG17-26).

How to correctly write a response to a claim for damages?

Regarding when to file a claim, it is worth noting that as soon as all documentary evidence of the amount of damage caused or the amount of funds required to compensate for it has been collected, it should be immediately sent to the person who is legally obligated to compensate.

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Expert opinion

Thus, I question the claims made by IJSC “__________” for property damage caused by a traffic accident.

If a conflict situation arises as a result of an accident, it is important to get out of it with the least possible consequences for the parties.

Good day. I found myself in a situation that probably a huge number of people have experienced at one time or another. I mean, I’m sitting in a bar, not bothering anyone, the sun is shining in my face, and then a call comes from my mother, where she says that a mysterious letter from the office “Timur and his team” (the name has been changed) has arrived at my registration address.

If the dispute could not be resolved pre-trial and the culprit refused to pay any compensation based on the complaint, the case will most likely be taken to court. Consideration of such a case is not mandatory if a person who is not a legal entity takes part in the dispute. face.

The damage to the __________ car was lateral, on the left side, but in the calculation presented, two headlights were replaced, and repairs were also made to the right side of the car.

Based on the current legislation, claims for compensation for damage that was caused to a person’s property by a car involved in an accident, all claims can be presented to the owner of this vehicle. In addition to claims for damages, the applicant may include in the complaint the following:

• payments, if necessary, to carry out various examinations, as well as payment for legal services. This issue is regulated by the second paragraph of Article 15 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation;
• according to Article 395 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, payment of interest for the use of money other than one’s own;
• compensation for lost profits, if any;
• compensation for moral damage.

Taking into account the above comments to the documents you attached to justify the amount of damage caused, I do not agree with the determination of the cost of damage caused in the amount of ________________ rubles, since I was not invited to conduct an independent examination.

The amount of expenses you have already incurred in the amount of _________ rubles. ___ kop. is documented by the corresponding receipts, from which it is unclear exactly what materials were purchased and what services were provided.

The claim was overcharged

It doesn't matter.
If the consumer is fundamentally right, then you just need to pay him a fair amount.

Of course, situations can vary in complexity. Extremely simple: when the consumer demands to return exactly the amount that he paid for the product. It’s more complicated: a person wants, in addition to the cost of the product, to be reimbursed for related expenses, for example, for delivery of the product to his home or for its installation. It’s even more complicated: the cost of the product plus associated expenses, plus moral damages.

The company has the right to disagree with the declared amount. However, if from a legal point of view the consumer is right, for example, the product was truly defective, then the company must express its readiness to satisfy his claims with the proviso that an agreement must be reached regarding the amount to be reimbursed.

It is not worth refusing to restore a citizen’s right, motivating the refusal by the fact that his proven losses amounted to, for example, 100 thousand rubles, and in his claim he demands to pay him 1 million rubles. It is necessary to reimburse the justified 100 thousand rubles (Determination of the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated May 28, 2019 No. 91-KG19-1).

The claim does not contain consumer account details

This argument is often found in practice, but does not help in the courts.
It is true that consumers do not always indicate their bank details in their claims to transfer funds for the returned goods. It would seem that the company is deprived of the opportunity to transfer money. After all, she doesn’t know where.

However, the courts believe that this is not a hopeless situation. The absence of bank details does not relieve the seller of the obligation to return funds. In addition, the organization has options on how to pay the dissatisfied customer in this case:

• deposit money into the notary's deposit account and inform the buyer about this;
• deposit them into a bank account on demand, and also notify the consumer about this;
• send money by postal order to the address specified in the citizen’s claim;
• give him money in another acceptable way, in particular, by inviting him to a store or office.

The organization has the right to use any of these methods. If she did not resort to them, then she is to blame for the fact that the claim remained unsatisfied (Appeal rulings of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Bashkortostan dated 02/01/2018 No. 33-1728/2018, Perm Regional Court dated 04/20/2015 No. 33-3864).

Is a claim required?

There are a number of civil disputes in which filing a pre-trial claim is a prerequisite. This does not mean that the law obliges to file a claim; it means that in the absence of a preliminary filed claim, it will not be possible to go to court with a corresponding statement of claim.

Disputes related to damage do not fall into this category, unless the civil contract itself provides for a claim procedure.

However, in accordance with the provisions of the Arbitration Procedure Code, for legal entities the preliminary filing of a claim is mandatory for all business disputes, regardless of whether the claim procedure is mandatory for a specific legal dispute.

Simply put, individuals are required to make a claim only in cases where the law specifically states so, for example, for claims for damages made by:

• tour operators;
• banks and microfinance organizations;
• cargo carriers;
• air transport carriers;
• rail transport carriers;
• carriers under contracts of carriage by sea and inland waterway transport;
• insurers for MTPL payments;
• forwarders under an expedition agreement;
• for damage caused as a result of violation of exclusive rights.

Legal entities write claims for all disputes with counterparties.

Taking into account the fact that the statute of limitations for damage compensation disputes varies from 1 year to 3 years (depending on the nature of the legal relationship), it is recommended to write a claim when deadlines are running out. The fact is that the claim suspends the limitation period for the time during which the claim will be considered.

For example, if there is less than a month left before the expiration of the limitation period, during which an individual may not have time to go to court, you can send a claim to the counterparty. From the moment the latter receives a claim, the limitation period will be suspended for at least 1 month, that is, for a period sufficient for the individual to prepare a claim.

The complaint does not contain a list of identified deficiencies

This argument will work if the company could not know them, and will not help if the shortcomings became known to it.
In the complaint, the consumer may not indicate what specific defects the product has. After all, objectively it is not always extremely clear what exactly is broken. If the seller cannot establish this, then an examination is carried out to clarify this circumstance.

Therefore, if there is no list of shortcomings in the buyer’s letter, but it appeared in the expert’s subsequent conclusion, then it is considered that the claim was justified, and after the seller organization receives a response from the expert, the consumer’s demands must be satisfied (Appeal ruling of the Perm Regional Court dated November 27, 2017 No. 33-12993/2017).

The claim did not refer to moral damages

Such an argument specifically against paying compensation for moral damage is untenable.
The consumer is not obliged to indicate in the claim a requirement for compensation for moral damage in order to later recover this compensation in court. The laws do not prescribe such dependence.

Therefore, it is useless to refer to the absence in the claim of a requirement for compensation for moral damages to the selling company in court.

If the basic demands of the consumer-plaintiff are recognized as valid and are satisfied by the court, then compensation for moral damage at the request of the plaintiff is awarded to him automatically.

This document is often viewed with:

The claim dated November 23, 2015, did not include documents confirming the actual amount of damage caused to the victim (expert opinion).

So, a pre-trial claim for damages contains certain demands that the injured party sends to the person or organization whose actions or inaction caused harm, expressed in a certain amount of money.

The lawyer said there was no chance. Perhaps, only in my case, if the court pays attention and takes into account that the pre-trial claims procedure has been violated.

We all live in society and constantly interact with each other. Unfortunately, sometimes it happens that, wittingly or unwittingly, we harm or cause damage to someone. According to the law, it must be compensated, and the injured party sends a claim to the offender. What is this document and how to respond to it? Let's look at it in this article.

This is important to know: Complaint to the FAS under Federal Law 223: 2021 sample

So, what might the claims be and how do you respond to a claim for damages? Let's consider several situations. If the person who damaged the victim’s property is ready to cooperate, it is better to communicate with him through correspondence, and it is recommended to seal the agreement with a written agreement that clearly outlines the conditions for covering losses.

In fact, it is not always the case that the culprit of the accident manages to avoid additional payment in favor of the victim, even when the traffic police were called and the insurance company compensated for the damage. In cases where the funds allocated by the company were not enough to cover the costs, an accident claim is filed. A sample no-claims receipt has already been discussed above.

Do you need to recover compensation for damage caused in a traffic accident from the culprit? If you go to court right away, you will need to spend a lot of time, a lot of money, and sometimes nerves, and you may not receive compensation.

Claim submitted too late

The effectiveness of this argument depends on how much time has passed since the sale of goods or provision of services.
There are different terms - from 7 days to 10 years. If the product is of high quality, the consumer can exchange or return it within 14 days. If the product was purchased through an online store, the period is half as long - 7 days.

If the consumer wants to return a defective product, he has the right to do so during the warranty period or expiration date. Accordingly, they are different for products: week, month, year, etc. For example, the shelf life of a TV is five years, so a claim submitted a month before the expiration of this period must be accepted (Appeal ruling of the Moscow City Court dated October 26, 2018 No. 33-46386/2018).

If such terms are less than two years according to the documents for a product or service, or they are not established at all, then the consumer has two years to file a claim. The company is not obliged to satisfy a claim received after two years and several months (Appeal rulings of the Moscow City Court dated January 18, 2019 No. 33-1743/2019, dated July 6, 2018 No. 33-24717/2018).

If the product is technically complex, then the period for returning it is much shorter - only 15 days. The seller has the right to reject a claim for a refund submitted later (Determination of the Moscow City Court dated November 16, 2018 No. 4g-12276/2018).

But if the defect is significant and the service life of the product has not been established, then the seller will be obliged to consider the complaint within 10 years. Therefore, you should not be surprised that the buyer came with a claim five years later; it should be considered (Determination of the Judicial Collegium for Civil Cases of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated June 11, 2019 No. 57-KG19-3).