Judecatoria Craiova; 2019-02-13; 462/215/2017
Decision by national courts in the field of European Union law — ECLI:RO:JDCRV:2019:028.001495
Date: 2019-02-13
Subject matter: Judicial cooperation in civil matters
Origin: Romania

82019RO0213(51)_ENG_SUMJURE
JURE summary
JURE summary
On 13 August 2016, a road accident happened in a village Tesc Dolj, Romania, in which an Alfa Romeo car (No. BP9…), registered in Bulgaria and driven by B.M.F. (hereinafter ‘defendant 1’) collided with a Mercedes car (No. DJ1…). The Mercedes car was hit in an irregular overtaking by the Alfa Romeo car, subsequently being projected off the road into an Opel car (No. DJ0…) parked in a regular parking lot. The latter suffered damages on the left front door, left rear door, left middle pillar, roof and windscreen. There was also other damage reported, as recorded by Accident Report No. RCX3016013 of 27. December 2016. At the time of the event, the Alfa Romeo car was insured under a Green Card insurance policy provided by the insurance company DallBogg: Life and Health Insurance Company (hereinafter ‘defendant 2’). Following the accident, defendant 2, through its agent Recrex, opened Insurance File No. RCX30160134/1. Defendant 2 refused to pay compensation to the injured parties alleging that there was no correlation between the photographic records, the repair certificates and the statements of the parties involved in the road accident.
A natural person N.F.A. (hereinafter ‘plaintiff 1’) stated that, following the verification at authorised car service, the repair of his car cost RON 21.484,14, an amount which the defendants must pay jointly and severally. As is apparent from the Accident Report, defendant 1 was held responsible for the accident as he failed to comply with the traffic regulations in force. Plaintiff 1 considered that defendant 2 wrongly rejected the payment under Insurance File No. RCX30160134/1, because the damages clearly correspond to the road accident of 13 August 2016.
During the proceedings, plaintiff 1 filed a written statement in which it indicated its intention to sue defendant 2 through the agent Recrex. On 26 April 2017, the Judecatoria Craiova (hereinafter ‘the Court of First Instance’) granted the application.
The present case (No. 462/215/2017) was closely linked to another case, registered under No. 6171/215/2017, as it concerns the same road accident. By the action filed on 3 March 2017, a natural person B.C. (hereinafter ‘plaintiff 2’) sought an order that the defendants be ordered to pay the amount of RON 10.000, representing the damage caused to him by the total damage to his car, to pay the sum of RON 3.780 and late payment penalties of 0.2% per day in accordance with the Norma 23/2014 (1), calculated for 189 days starting with 13 August 2016 and until the date of filing the action and late payment penalties of 0.2% per day onwards from the date of filing the action until the actual payment of the debt by the defendants and to pay the court costs.
In the statement of reasons, plaintiff 2 stated that on 13 August 2016, defendant 1 caused a traffic accident in the Tesc Dolj, Romania, while driving a car (No. BP…) registered in Bulgaria and insured with defendant 2, damaging his Mercedes car (No. DJ…). The Mercedes was hit (by the right rear side of car No. BP…) on the left front side when defendant 1returned to the lane after overtaking. Plaintiff 2 stated that after the collision, his car was thrown into a parked car, a fact which was noted in the Accident Report No. PDJX 0023218.
Since defendant 1 has concluded for his car an MTPL policy with defendant 2, plaintiff 2 notified the insurer (= defendant 2) of the damage. Subsequently, the Insurance File No. RCX30160134/2 was drawn up by agent Recrex.
By judgment No. 1495 of 13 February 2019 (Case 462/215/2017), the Court of First Instance rejected the request for recognition of judgment No. 3978/2017 issued on 8 November 2017 by the Raionen săd Vratsa (Bulgaria), rejected the plea of lack of passive procedural capacity invoked by the defendants, and admitted in part the action brought by the plaintiffs against the defendants.
The Court of First Instance ordered the defendants to pay the sum of RON 2654,75 as compensation to plaintiff 1, and the sum of RON 35 353,65 as compensation to plaintiff 2. The court dismissed the claim for late payment penalties but ordered the defendants to pay the sum of RON 941 as costs to plaintiff 1 and the sum of RON 2416 as costs to plaintiff 2.
The first instance judgment No. 1495 of 13 February 2019 was appealed by plaintiff 1 to the Tribunalul Dolj (hereinafter ‘the Court of Appeal’), but the appeal was rejected by Court of Appeal’s decision No. 25 of 22 January 2020.
(1) Norma nr. 23/2014 privind asigurarea obligatorie de răspundere civilă pentru prejudicii produse prin accidente de vehicle (Rule No. 23/2014 on compulsory civil liability insurance for damage caused by vehicle accidents).