Research On Damage Compensation For Vehicle Depreciation Loss In Traffic Accidents

The depreciation loss of vehicles caused by traffic accidents is a category of losses that is not yet clear whether compensation should be made in practice.And precisely because of this ambiguity,disputes over the loss often arise,and insurance companies actively adopt exemption clauses to avoid compensation for vehicle depreciation losses,resulting in insufficient protection of the rights of vehicle owners.It is legitimate to provide relief for vehicle depreciation losses caused by traffic accidents.From the perspective of civil law,vehicles first exist as objects,which have both use value and exchange value.Vehicle depreciation losses in traffic accidents are widely recognized as objective losses by the public,and comply with the basic principles of civil law such as fairness,leveling,and complete compensation,From the perspective of tort liability,it is also covered by relevant legal provisions,so it is legitimate to provide relief for this loss.There is still controversy in the academic community regarding the nature of vehicle depreciation losses in traffic accidents.Vehicle depreciation losses include technical depreciation losses and transactional depreciation losses,and the degree of recognition of their compensability in theory is not the same.After a vehicle is damaged due to an accident,does the repair process generate a premium due to the replacement of new parts,resulting in improper profit for the owner? In this case,is the principle of profit and loss offset or forced profit applicable? The above issues have a profound impact on the legitimacy of vehicle depreciation losses.From the perspective of laws and regulations,there is no clear provision for this issue,which gives judges a certain degree of discretion.Although vehicle depreciation loss is an objective property loss,many judges do not support vehicle depreciation loss due to the lack of legal basis when addressing such issues.According to the response of the Supreme People’s Court to the issue of vehicle depreciation loss,The reasons for the principle of not supporting vehicle depreciation losses are the limitations of economic development,as well as the existence of many theoretical and practical issues and controversies.However,with the continuous deepening of theoretical research and the continuous improvement of appraisal level in practice,the answer to this question will gradually become clearer.Once the socio-economic level reaches the standard,the Supreme People’s Court can formulate a series of precise refinement standards around this issue.The constituent elements of liability for damage caused by vehicle depreciation should be the same as those of general tort liability,mainly including the existence of illegal acts,the occurrence of damage consequences,the causal relationship between the first two,and the subjective fault of the perpetrator.On this basis,the actual situation of the infringer should be fully considered,and the liability for compensation for such damage should be limited to prevent the infringer from facing difficulties in bearing the tort liability.The determination of the amount of compensation for vehicle depreciation damages should be mainly based on market law,using methods such as judges’ discretion,professional appraisal agencies’ appraisal,and fixed algorithm models to achieve fairness and justice in the amount.