In spring, after the frosts, the questions arrive almost like clockwork: a gashed tyre, a cracked rim, a broken shock absorber – “does casco pay for this, or the road operator?” The answer is that both may come into play, but the two routes work on entirely different logic: casco is based on the contract and pays subject to the deductible, whereas the road operator route rests on proving fault, and there the claim has to be reported within a statutory deadline. As a broker, what I see is that most pothole claims fail not on the law but on the first ten minutes at the scene: no photos, no witness, no report. This article sets the two routes side by side and shows what is worth doing while you are still at the roadside.
- Pothole damage to rims, tyres and suspension typically counts as collision damage under casco: the insurer pays according to the contract, less the deductible, and the payout may also affect your no-claims bonus class – some policy conditions exclude or limit damage confined to the tyre alone.
- Under Section 34 of the Road Transport Act (Kkt.), the road operator must ensure that the road is fit for safe traffic; under Section 35 it compensates damage caused by breaching its duties as operator in accordance with the rules of civil law, but the claim must be reported to it within 30 days of the damage occurring.
- The two routes are not mutually exclusive: if casco has paid, the insurer can itself turn to the road operator under Section 6:468 of the Hungarian Civil Code (Ptk.), and you can claim the deductible; without casco, the entire burden of proof – photos, police report, witness, repair quote – is yours, and the road operator may plead that it was not at fault.
Pothole damage under casco: collision damage, with a deductible
Casco collision cover pays for damage caused by mechanical force acting on the vehicle – collisions, minor bumps and, typically, driving into a pothole as well: damage to the rim, the tyre, the suspension, the oil sump or the shock absorber is the typical pattern of pothole damage. The article on collision damage sets out the limits of the cover; with potholes, two particular points are worth checking separately in your own policy conditions. The first is the tyre: some Hungarian policy conditions exclude damage confined to the tyre alone or apply a separate limit to it, whereas a tyre damaged together with the rim and the suspension is typically paid for – this varies from one set of policy conditions to another. The second is the deductible: a large share of pothole damage falls in the same range as the deductible, so it is worth working out the combined effect of the percentage and minimum deductible before you report the claim – a paid claim may also worsen your no-claims bonus class from the next renewal date, if the policy conditions so provide.
Claims are reported via the insurer's claims line, online portal or app; the policy conditions set a short deadline counted from the discovery of the damage – 15 days in one Hungarian set of conditions, for example – and the car must not be repaired before the insurer's inspection. The steps in the article describing the claim-reporting process apply here too; the inspection report and the photos will also be useful later for the claim against the road operator.
The road operator's liability: what does the law say?
Under Section 34(1) of Act I of 1988 on Road Transport (Kkt.), the operator of a public road must ensure that the road is fit for safe traffic. Section 35 then states that the road operator must compensate, under the general rules of civil law, any damage caused by breaching its duties as operator, and that the compensation claim must be reported to the road operator within 30 days of the damage occurring. These 30 days are a reporting deadline, not a limitation period – but road operators refer to it in their own guidance as a strict requirement, so it has to be met. Who is the road operator? On national public roads it is Magyar Közút Nonprofit Zrt. (the state road management company), on concession motorways the operator concerned, and on municipal roads the local authority – in Budapest, Budapest Közút Zrt. on roads managed by the capital, and the district authorities on district roads.
The “general rules of civil law” mean Section 6:519 of the Hungarian Civil Code (Ptk.): anyone who unlawfully causes damage to another must compensate for it, and is released from liability if they prove that their conduct was not culpable. The defences raised by road operators recur in practice: they did not know about the defect and could not have known of it even with the checks that can reasonably be expected; the defect was signposted; the speed was not suited to the road conditions (the Hungarian Highway Code, KRESZ, requires a speed adapted to road and traffic conditions); or the injured party contributed to the damage, which under Section 6:525 of the Ptk. may lead to the loss being apportioned. That is why it is not enough that the pothole was there: you also need to show that it was unmarked, could not be spotted at the speed in question and could not be avoided, and that the damage was caused by it.
What does the road operator ask for – and what is the evidence worth?
Budapest Közút's claims-settlement guidance, for example, asks for the vehicle registration certificate, proof of compulsory motor third-party liability (MTPL) insurance, photos of the defect and its surroundings, the witnesses' details and – if there is one – the official decision of the authority; the damaged parts must be kept, and the damage is assessed by an independent loss adjuster. Magyar Közút operates a similar reporting procedure. The weight of the different pieces of evidence varies greatly:
- Police report drawn up at the scene: the strongest document – an official record of the location and size of the defect, the absence of warning signs and the damage. With more serious damage, it is worth calling the police, even if you have to wait.
- Photos, video: of the pothole with a size reference (a shoe, a key), of its surroundings (missing sign, lane, kilometre marker or house number) and of the damage, with the date and time stamp enabled.
- Witness: a passenger or another driver who stops – name and contact details.
- Reporting the defect: to the road operator's customer service or to Útinform (the road information service) on the same day; that way the operator cannot later claim that it did not know about it.
- Repair quote or invoice, expert opinion: to support the amount of the damage and its causal link to the pothole.
The two routes together: who pays in the end?
Casco and the road operator's liability are not mutually exclusive. If casco has paid, under Section 6:468 of the Ptk. the insurer acquires the rights that the insured person had against the person liable for the damage – in other words, the insurer can itself turn to the road operator up to the amount it has paid out. The deductible and the loss of bonus remain with you; you can claim the deductible from the road operator with the same evidence, but in practice it is difficult to enforce the loss of bonus as damage. Without casco, the whole route leads to the road operator: proving fault, the operator's defences, apportionment of the loss – there, it is the quality of the evidence that decides, not the security of a contract. This is one of the reasons why, when deciding on casco, it is worth thinking through not only theft and hail but also these “nobody is at fault, but it still has to be paid for” cases – much like the situation with an unidentified party causing the damage.
What should you do, step by step?
At the scene: stop safely, put out the warning triangle, take photos, find a witness, consider calling the police. The same day: report the defect to the road operator. Within 30 days: send a written compensation claim to the road operator with the attachments listed above – this statutory deadline runs even if you have meanwhile also reported the damage under your casco. With the insurer: report the claim within the deadline set in the policy conditions, have the inspection carried out, and only then have the car repaired. If the road operator or its liability insurer rejects the claim, the compensation claim has to go to court, where involving a legal adviser is advisable. As a broker, I help where I can on the casco side: in preparing the claim report, in interpreting the policy conditions and in a case that gets stuck or disputed – the claim against the road operator is a legal matter, but the paperwork it needs is the same as what you also have to put together for the casco claim.
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Sources
- Road Transport Act (Kkt., Act I of 1988) Sections 34–35 – duties of the road operator, compensation, 30-day notification
- Hungarian Civil Code (Ptk., Act V of 2013) Sections 6:468, 6:519, 6:525 – the insurer's right of recovery, liability for causing damage, contribution by the injured party
- Budapest Közút Zrt. – Claims settlement (30-day notification under Section 35 of the Kkt., documents to be submitted)
- Magyar Közút Nonprofit Zrt. – Reporting a claim: damage to a motor vehicle
- Generali – Special conditions for vehicle casco insurance (JCKF29), VIII.2.1: reporting a claim within 15 days
