Consorcio is the insurer of last resource of compulsory motor car third-party liability insurance for vehicles rejected by the market, as well as for fleets of any public body that requesting this cover. It is also the guarantee fund for damages caused by unknown, uninsured or stolen vehicles.
The Law 35/2015, of the 22nd of September, reformed the system to assess the injuries caused to people in traffic accidents (usually known as "Schedule"). The reform has meant an overt improvement of the system approved in 1995 and that remained in force until the 31st of December, 2015, both from the perspective of its legal basis and of its structure and, in general, of the compensation amounts that it incorporates.
The first additional provision of the Law foresees the creation of a Monitoring Committee for the Valuation System aimed at, amongst other points, analysing the start up of the new valuation system, its legal and economic repercussions and formulating suggestions to improve the system.
In accordance with the previous legal provisions, by order of the Ministries of Justice and of the Economy and Competitiveness (now, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprises), of the 27th of October, 2016, at the proposal of the General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds, the aforementioned Follow-up Commission was created, the members of which were appointed by a joint Resolution taken by the General Technical Secretary of the Ministry of Justice and the General Director of Insurance and Pension Funds of the Ministry of the Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, on the 27th of March, 2017.
A representative from the Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros participates in the Monitoring Committee, along with traffic accident victim associations, insurance companies and other experts.
During some of the sessions held by the Monitoring Committee some suggestions regarding good practice have been approved, aimed at aiding the management of the compensation for personal injuries, along with the fact that this is carried out by the insurance companies, the injured parties and all the professionals who take part in the application procedures for this compensation, in accordance with the criteria and the spirit that at the time, guided the legislator who passed the reform of the valuation system.
All the suggestions as a whole that have been approved by the Monitoring Committee take on the name of "Guide to good practice for the application of the Car Schedule". As the Monitoring Committee approves new suggestions, these will be incorporated to this Guide to good practice.
These suggestions or recommendations are not aimed at replacing the interpretational task of the Courts in the application of the Law, but rather to be used as an instrument for the legal operators to, as has already been mentioned, promote the cooperation, good will and the generalised transparency in the practice of the application procedures for person injury compensation.
The suggestions or recommendations contained in this Guide are endorsed by being the result of a participative process in which representatives from all the sectors involved have been included.
Therefore the Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros itself, a public body which consequently backs this, has taken part in the preparation of this Guide.
For this reason, in addition to the external diffusion through its web site, the Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros has actively and persistently disseminated this Guide internally, with the aim that all its organisational units that are involved in the processing of compensation applications apply the suggestions or recommendations in the daily management of the compensation derived from their activity in the compulsory civil liability insurance.
Accordingly, the Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros assumes its commitment to take into consideration this set of recommendations, both in its functions as Guarantee Fund for this compulsory insurance, and in those of an insurer for the civil liability of vehicles where the insurance has been rejected by the insurance market and those vehicles of public organisms that voluntarily sign this insurance policy with our organisation.
Guide to Good Practice for the Application of the Car Schedule