As happens at the beginning of every year, once the toasts and celebrations are over, the time comes to deal with the danni. Among the frequent ones there are those to cars caused by New Year’s Eve explosionsespecially those left parked on the street. Vehicles become unintended targets of firecrackers and improperly used fireworks, with consequences ranging from broken mirrors and windows to dents in the bodywork, to extreme cases where the car catches fire. If the person responsible is identifiable, the obligation to compensate is clear. However, when the perpetrator remains unknown, the question is inevitable: does the insurance intervene? The answer is that it depends on the coverage you take out.
In these cases the Rc auto non serve because it only protects damages caused by the driver to others and does not in any way cover damages suffered by unknown persons. Not even comprehensive insurance offers protection: although it covers damage to the vehicle regardless of liability in the event of an accident, it does not include damage caused by bangs or fireworks. To obtain compensation you need an insurance policy against vandalism designed for damage caused by unidentified third parties. However, there is one detail: this guarantee does not cover glass breakage or fire damage, which are covered by the theft and fire policy.
The clearest scenario
New Year’s morning may be the time when you realize that a firecracker damaged his carperhaps with a cracked rear window, a scratched side, a singed bumper or a bonnet marked by incandescent residue. Who pays the damages? The cause of the damage, the possible identification of the person responsible and the type of insurance coverage decide who takes the wallet. If the author of the gesture is identified, the legal basis leaves no room for interpretation: article 2043 of the Civil Code establishes that anyone who causes unjust damage to others through intentional or negligent action is obliged to compensate.
Law without evidence is worth little because the problem is not being right, but proving who threw that firecracker, how the damage occurred and what the causal link is between the gesture and the bodywork. When you enter the field of fireworks organized or in any case started in contexts that can be classified as a dangerous activity, the picture can change because article 2050 of the Civil Code provides for a responsibility that weighs on those who carry out the activity: whoever causes damage while carrying out a dangerous activity is required to pay compensation if he does not prove that he has adopted all the appropriate measures to avoid it.
On this point, the Court of Cassation has addressed cases related to fireworks, recalling the logic of liability of article 2050 and speaking of joint liability in lighting and surveillance scenarios with a significant evidentiary burden on those who should have prevented the damage. However, if the damage is connected to a thing that was in the availability or management of someone, article 2051 of the Civil Code on the thing in custody comes into play which requires the custodian to compensate unless he proves the fortuitous event. The invocation of the Municipality as an automatic ATM does not work because a documented reconstruction is needed.
The most common cases
The most frequent case on New Year’s Eve is that of a car damaged during the night without any witnessesno cameras, no identified perpetrator. In this scenario, the question of who pays has only one answer: the owner of the car, unless the insurance includes specific coverage that absorbs that damage. In these cases the only one Rc car it almost never saves the car owner, because mandatory civil liability is designed to compensate for the damage caused to others by driving, not the damage suffered when the car is vandalized or a firecracker breaks a window while the car is parked. This is where the additional guarantees.
Not all are the same and, above all, not all companies use the same definitions. The guarantee against vandalism and sociopolitical events it is a protection against voluntary damage and situations such as riots, riots, sabotage or acts of vandalism. This is the coverage that intercepts the typical damage from New Year’s Eve, i.e. scratches, dents, bodywork ruined by actions of third parties. The problem is that coverage changes from policy to policy and exclusions make the difference between a refund and nothing.
However, the vandalism guarantee may not cover breakage of glass and damage caused by fire which would instead fall under theft and fire. In reality, however, there are also coverages for vandalism that include glass breakageconfirming that there is no one-size-fits-all rule and that the only thing that matters is the information file.
Coverage full of deductibles and limits
If the bang cracked the windshield, side glass or rear window, the glass policy, which covers breakage and chipping of glass and includes damage caused by third parties. Everything is linear until you get to the part that many only discover in the workshop: limits, deductibles and differences between repair and replacement, because some policies cover repairs but restrict replacement or reimburse up to a maximum limit.
Fire, explosion, explosion
When the damage is not just aesthetic and the bang triggers fire o burns involving plastics, wiring, seals and components, the reference insurance coverage is the theft and fire policy which also protects against explosion and explosion, as well as fire in the strict sense. Some companies link the purchase of special extensions to the presence of the fire and theft guarantee, a sign that, in insurance terms, fire remains a separate chapter.
What to do as soon as the damage is discovered
In these cases, immediate management is part of the compensation because if you get the timing and documentation wrong you are putting yourself in the worst position. A mandatory step that should not be underestimated is the notification to the insurer: article 1913 of the Civil Code provides that the insured must give notice of the accident within three days since the accident occurred or since he became aware of it.
Then there is the issue of report to the authoritieswhich in cases of vandalism is the document that opens the door to compensation because it formalizes the event and allows the request to be anchored to a date and a declared dynamic. In parallel, the photos taken immediately, the context, any fragments, residues and the presence of cameras in the area can make the difference between a recognized accident and a contested accident.
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