# Research article: who may claim non-pecuniary loss under MTPL?

URL: https://insurancelawestonia.ee/blog/2021-07-01-research-non-pecuniary-damage-claimants-motor-insurance/
Author: Dr Olavi-Jüri Luik, Partner, Head of Insurance Law, attorney at law (Advokaadibüroo WIDEN OÜ)

> Värv and Luik, Juridica 2021/5: claimants of non-pecuniary damages in Estonian motor insurance, including relatives of the injured.

> **Article (in Estonian):** A. Värv, O.-J. Luik, "Mittevaralise kahju liikluskindlustuses hüvitamise nõudeõiguslikud probleemid" (Claims for compensation of non-pecuniary damage under motor insurance), Juridica 2021/5, pp. 356–367. [Article page on Juridica](https://www.juridica.ee/article.php?uri=2021_5_mittevaralise_kahju_liikluskindlustuses_h_vitamise_n_ude_iguslikud_probleemid) (published 2021)

Co-author: Age Värv.

## Research question

The Motor Insurance Act (liikluskindlustuse seadus, LKindlS) requires insurers to compensate non-pecuniary loss caused by road accidents. The authors show that in 2018–2020 insurers paid such compensation in several hundred cases a year, far more than the number of court cases, so the insurance system is the main channel for these claims. The central question is who, besides the directly injured person, may claim from the insurer.

## Main arguments

The article analyses problems arising in insurance practice: whether and when relatives of a deceased or seriously injured person may claim, how to distinguish their own loss from the direct victim's, and what the conditions of such claims are. The authors propose solutions, which the abstract does not detail.

## What has changed

The LKindlS was reformed on 1 December 2024: damage is now assessed under the damages rules of the Law of Obligations Act (võlaõigusseadus, VÕS) with MTPL-specific deviations, and the act sets minimum amounts for non-pecuniary loss (LKindlS § 32). The general basis for non-pecuniary damages remains VÕS § 134. The follow-up article is [Non-pecuniary damage amounts in motor insurance](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/blog/2021-07-01-research-non-pecuniary-damage-amounts-motor-insurance).

## Related pages

- [Supreme Court: motor third-party liability](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/supreme-court/motor-third-party-liability)
- [MTPL and Green Card claims](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/guides/mtpl-green-card-claims)