OCTA

MTPL is a compulsory civil liability insurance of owners of land vehicles, which is required for all types of vehicles that are road users.

OCTA insurance provides for the civil liability of the owner or legal user of the vehicle for losses caused to a third party as a result of a road traffic accident.

The OCTA policy is valid throughout Europe. On the territory of Latvia, it is not necessary to have a printed MTPL policy with you, it is valid in electronic form. But when traveling abroad, you should take the OCTA policy with you.

The size of the MTPL insurance premium, or the price of the MTPL policy, is determined by each insurance company in different ways, taking into account different criteria:

• driving history of the vehicle owner, or Bonus-Malus class;
• validity period of MTPL insurance (MTPL policy can be purchased for 3, 6, 9 or 12 months);
• type of vehicle;
• total mass of the vehicle;
• vehicle registration place – Riga or region;
• legal status of the vehicle owner – a natural or legal person;
• for what purposes the vehicle is used.

A unified system Bonus-Malus (system of discounts and margins) operates for vehicles registered in Latvia. For car owners who drive without an accident, MTPL insurance will be much cheaper.
The Bonus-Malus system is a system that provides an assessment of the insured risks. Insurance companies are guided by it when calculating discounts or surcharges to the MTPL policy. The bonus-malus system is divided into 17 classes.

A person injured in a road traffic accident has the right to receive MTPL insurance indemnity, if he is not found guilty of it. This could be:

• the owner or driver of the vehicle;
• a passenger – even if he was in the vehicle that caused the traffic accident;
• a pedestrian.

Losses are reimbursed by an insurance company that has insured the civil liability of the vehicle owner who caused the loss (the guilty vehicle).