Is it worth including Voluntary Civil Liability Insurance in our car policy? This is a question that many drivers have asked themselves, since currently Mandatory Insurance , although it is a basic and compulsory guarantee, offers quite a wide coverage against damage to third parties. Although of course, everything can be improved and that is why we have the option of expanding this protection with a Voluntary RC .

Currently, the well-known Complementary or Voluntary Civil Liability coverage of Auto Insurance is considered an extension of the Mandatory Civil Liability Insurance, the Third Party Insurance that as a rule all motor vehicles must have in force in order to circulate.

However, including this guarantee in the policy of our vehicle is recommended and, in fact, many insurers incorporate it into their offers of cheaper car insurance, and also of motorcycles or vans.

It is a complementary guarantee that does not raise the price of the Insurance much and that provides peace of mind for the insured in the event of an accident with serious consequences.

Let's see exactly what protection the Voluntary RC of Vehicle Insurance offers .

 

The Voluntary Civil Liability Insurance complements the coverage of the basic Mandatory Insurance.

This guarantee covers damage to third parties up to a statutory limit of 70 million euros, in the case of personal injury, and up to 15 million euros to cover material damage to third parties.

In addition, additional coverage may be included such as damage caused by stolen cars, things transported or coverage by drivers not included in the contract.

The Voluntary Civil Responsibility is an extension of the mandatory CR in the capital that insures, up to a limit of 50 million per claim.

This means that in the event that a very serious claim exceeds the amounts covered by the Third Party Insurance , the insurer will also assume the payment of compensation and the insured will not have to bear it.

 

They are very high figures, which in practice means that the driver is fully covered by the damages caused to third parties with this guarantee, although the law actually sets a maximum of 50 million euros for compensation.

However, it is important to highlight that Voluntary Civil Liability Insurance, like Compulsory Insurance, is Third Party Insurance and therefore does not cover own damages or those that occur to relatives of up to third degree.

In case you need more information, in this blog we tell you what Third Party Insurance covers .

 

As in Third Party Insurance, the Complementary RC covers damages to other people in the event that the accident is the fault of the vehicle driver, answering for those amounts that exceed the maximum of the Mandatory Insurance.

The Voluntary RC also covers all the companions of the driver responsible for the incident, except himself. It should be borne in mind that this type of coverage contemplates the possibility of family closeness to the injured, that is, a brother, mother or child will not be compensated in the same way as a person outside the driver's family environment.

From there, the conditions of each policy can vary between some companies and others, but in general, some assumptions in which we would be protected by the Voluntary Civil Liability Insurance can be these:

  • RC for damages caused by things transported by the vehicle.
  • RC Supplementary to the driver , in the case of a child of the policyholder
  • RC by fire or vehicle explosion , when the car is parked, inside or outside your garage.

What the Complementary RC Insurance will not cover are the own damages, since that coverage is only offered by the All Risk Insurance .

 

Although there are many similarities between these two guarantees, there are important differences between these RC covers .

The first of these is the obligatory nature of their hiring: Complementary CR is a voluntary guarantee , which may or may not be included in the contract. However, Mandatory Insurance is essential to circulate .

In addition, Mandatory Civil Liability Insurance does not cover damage caused by a car that has an accident while driving by someone other than the owner of the car and underwriter of the Insurance.

In the event that, for example, the insured's son took the car and had an accident, the company would not be responsible for the damages caused.

On the other hand, the Voluntary Civil Liability Insurance can cover damages to other people in the event that the accident is the fault of the driver of the vehicle, thus expanding the capacity of this guarantee.

In addition, as we have seen previously, many insurers offer complementary coverage in Voluntary RC Insurance that extends the protection of Insurance to Third Parties.

 

This coverage has evolved from a few years to this part, due to the legislative changes that have occurred in the regulations.

Specifically, on January 1, 2008, there was an important milestone in compulsory third-party insurance, as the maximum limits of coverage were modified, which were previously significantly lower.

Until then, the interest in purchasing Voluntary Civil Liability Insurance was based on the important economic difference between the limits of both coverages.

After the regulatory change, Third Party Insurance considerably increased its coverage due to the entry into force of the V Car Directive (approved by Law 21/2007) .

In this way, it was passed:

  • In damages to things and animals , from a maximum coverage of 100,000 euros per claim, a limit of 15 million euros of coverage per claim is passed, regardless of the number of vehicles or goods affected.
  • In damages to people , from a maximum coverage of 350,000 euros per person, it goes to a maximum coverage of 70 million euros per claim, regardless of the number of victims.

Despite the fact that the compensation contemplated by the Compulsory RC Insurance practically covers the protection needs, the Voluntary Insurance is still interesting for the insured for the extra coverage it offers and for the benefits that the insurers have incorporated into this guarantee, with the objective of expanding its offer and offering solutions to problems not covered by Third Party Insurance.

 

Having the Voluntary Civil Liability Insurance is an extra guarantee for the driver that provides, above all, peace of mind.

The reason is that, in the event of an accident, if the amount of the damages to be covered exceeds the limit established by the Third Party Insurance, that difference would be borne by the driver responsible for the accident. And we are probably talking about a lot of money.

It is therefore a highly recommended guarantee. In addition, if you make a comparison between Insurance of the different companies, you will discover that taking out Voluntary Civil Liability Insurance does not imply a considerable increase in the premium, especially in exchange for everything you can earn.

Our advice: Take a worry out of your head and take out Voluntary Civil Liability Insurance on your policy!

Today Voluntary Civil Liability is very widespread and the car is rare that does not include an expanded coverage of Mandatory RC Insurance .

Among other things, because the cost is much less than the driver's peace of mind of seeing his assets protected by almost any circumstance, in case of being responsible for a traffic accident.

Many cheap car insurances also include Complementary RC in the policy coverage as you can check in our comparator.

As you can see, it is interesting to have the Voluntary RC, an extra protection that, in addition, does not have to mean a significant increase in the payment of the premium. In addition, from our Insurance brokerage we can calculate a cheap Car Insurance that offers the most complete protection at the best price.