Italian accident vocabulary 2: insurance and settlement

These are the words that turn up in letters rather than at the roadside. Several of them are the words on which a settlement turns, and two of them regularly surprise foreign drivers.

Cover and the parties

• RC auto (responsabilità civile auto) — EN: compulsory third-party motor liability · DE: Kfz-Haftpflicht · PL: OC posiadaczy pojazdów. Every vehicle in Italy must carry it.
• Polizza — EN: policy · DE: Police/Versicherungsschein · PL: polisa.
• Contraente / assicurato — EN: policyholder / insured · DE: Versicherungsnehmer / Versicherter · PL: ubezpieczający / ubezpieczony.
• Kasko / polizza casco — EN: comprehensive cover · DE: Kaskoversicherung · PL: autocasco. Optional, and its wording decides far more than most people expect.
• Carta Verde — EN: Green Card · DE: Grüne Karte · PL: Zielona Karta.

The two terms that surprise foreign drivers

These two decide outcomes more often than any other vocabulary on this page.

• Massimale — EN: policy limit/ceiling · DE: Deckungssumme · PL: suma gwarancyjna. The maximum the liability insurer pays. It matters in serious cases, and there is no reason to assume it is unlimited.
• Franchigia — EN: excess/deductible · DE: Selbstbeteiligung · PL: udział własny. Worth knowing before you decide whether a claim is worth making at all.

Handling and payment

• Perizia — EN: expert report/assessment · DE: Gutachten · PL: opinia/ekspertyza. Perito = the expert who prepares it.
• Preventivo — EN: estimate/quotation · DE: Kostenvoranschlag · PL: kosztorys. A workshop's repair quotation, not an expert report.
• Risarcimento — EN: compensation/settlement · DE: Entschädigung/Regulierung · PL: odszkodowanie.
• Liquidatore — EN: claims handler · DE: Sachbearbeiter/Regulierer · PL: likwidator.
• Mandatario per la liquidazione dei sinistri — EN: claims representative · DE: Schadenregulierungsbeauftragter · PL: reprezentant do spraw roszczeń. The contact every insurer must appoint in each EU state — your route to an Italian insurer in your own language.
• Rivalsa — EN: recourse/recovery · DE: Regress · PL: regres. When the insurer pays and then reclaims from its own insured.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the massimale matter if the other driver is at fault?

Because it caps what their insurer pays. In an ordinary damage claim it is never reached; in a serious case with injuries or several vehicles it can be. It is one of the reasons the total scale of a claim is worth establishing early.

Is a preventivo the same as a perizia?

No, and the difference is the whole point. A <em>preventivo</em> is a workshop's price for a repair. A <em>perizia</em> is an independent technical assessment of what the damage is, what method is appropriate and what the vehicle is worth.

How do I reach an Italian insurer if I do not speak Italian?

Through its claims representative in your country, which the EU motor insurance framework requires every insurer to appoint. Ask for it by name — <em>mandatario per la liquidazione dei sinistri</em> — and correspondence runs in your language.