The Supreme Court explained how the limit of insurance payments is determined in case of the death of a victim in a traffic accident

The Law "On Compulsory Civil Liability Insurance of Owners of Land Vehicles" clearly defines that insurance compensation is made within the insurance amount (limit) concerning one victim. In case of the death of a person, the victim within the meaning of the Law is the deceased himself, not his mother or children, who only exercise the right to receive compensation due to the death of the victim. Therefore, courts determining the insurance compensation limit separately for each claimant contradict the content and purpose of the law, which provides for the total amount of payments concerning one victim — who died as a result of a traffic accident. This conclusion was made by the judges of the Third Judicial Panel of the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court.

Positions of the courts of first and appellate instances

The courts of previous instances found the accused guilty and convicted him under Part 1 of Article 135, Part 3 of Article 286-1 of the Criminal Code.

The local court, with which the appellate court agreed, partially satisfied the civil claims following the criminal proceedings and ordered, among other things, to recover from PJSC "Insurance Company" in favor of the victims damages caused by the death of the victim in the total amount of UAH 380,899.8.

In the cassation appeal, the representative of the civil defendant PJSC "Insurance Company" argues that the local court, when deciding on civil claims, did not take into account the provisions of the special law in the field of compulsory civil liability insurance of owners of land vehicles regarding the definition of the concept of "victim," and the appellate court in the contested ruling did not provide proper refutation of the arguments of his appeal in this part. In addition, it is argued that when making the mentioned decisions in this part, the courts of previous instances did not consider the insurance amount (limit) of UAH 320,000 and unjustifiably exceeded it.

Position of the Criminal Cassation Court of the Supreme Court 

The appellate court's ruling was canceled and a new hearing was appointed in the appellate court.

The panel of judges of the Supreme Court indicated that when resolving a civil claim, the court is obliged to objectively investigate the circumstances of the case, identify the participants and the nature of the legal relations that arose between them, clarify the amount of damage caused as a result of the criminal offense, and also determine the procedure for its compensation.

Article 22 of the Law "On Compulsory Civil Liability Insurance of Owners of Land Vehicles" No. 1961-IV, as amended at the time of the criminal offense (hereinafter Law No. 1961-IV), defined that in case of an insured event, the insurer within the insurance sums specified in the insurance policy compensates in the manner established by this Law the assessed damage caused as a result of a traffic accident to the life, health, and property of a third party.

Thus, considering that the victims filed civil claims, including against the insurance company, which by law bears civil liability for the damage caused to them, the courts when resolving civil claims had to be guided, in addition to the requirements of the criminal procedural law, also by the provisions of the special Law No. 1961-IV in the field of compulsory civil liability insurance of owners of land vehicles.

At the same time, according to Article 27.5 of Law No. 1961-IV, the total amount of all insurance compensations (regulated payments) for damage caused to the life and health of one person cannot exceed the insurance amount for such damage.

Taking into account the above, it can be seen that the Law clearly defines that insurance compensation is carried out within the limits of the insurance amount (limit) in relation to one victim. In case of the death of a person, the victim is the deceased himself, not his mother or children, who only exercise the right to receive compensation due to the death of the victim. Therefore, courts determining the insurance compensation limit separately for each claimant contradict the content and purpose of the law, which provides for the total amount of payments concerning one victim — who died as a result of a traffic accident. In case of death, the victim within the meaning of the Law is the deceased, not his relatives.

The ruling of the panel of judges of the Third Judicial Panel of the Supreme Court dated 08.04.2026 in case No. 444/4962/24 (proceeding No. 51-4668km25) can be found at the link.

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