Russian Federation Law No. 4015-1 of 27 November 1992 "On the Organisation of Insurance Business in the Russian Federation" is the core document of the Russian insurance market. It defines what insurance is, who may engage in it, how the state supervises insurers and how clients' interests are protected. The law was originally called "On Insurance" and received its current title in 1997. Contractual relations between the parties are also governed by Chapter 48 of the Russian Civil Code, and compulsory types of insurance by special federal laws.

Key terms

The law defines insurance as relations for protecting the interests of individuals and organisations, the Russian Federation, its regions and municipalities upon the occurrence of insured events, funded from pools that insurers build out of premiums paid and from insurers' other funds.

  • Insured risk — an anticipated event against which insurance is taken out. It must be probable and accidental.
  • Insured event — an event that has occurred, provided for by the contract or by law, which obliges the insurer to make a payment.
  • Sum insured — the amount used to determine the premium and the payout.
  • Insurance premium — the price of insurance; the premium rate is the premium charged per unit of sum insured.
  • Deductible (franchise) — the part of a loss that is not compensated. The law distinguishes between conditional and unconditional deductibles.

Definitions of other terms are in our insurance glossary.

Forms and objects of insurance

Insurance can be voluntary or compulsory. Voluntary insurance is based on a contract and on the insurance rules drawn up by the insurer. Compulsory insurance can be introduced only by federal law — this is how OSAGO (compulsory motor third-party liability, Law 40-FZ), OSOPO (hazardous facility owners' liability, Law 225-FZ), OSGOP (carriers' liability to passengers, Law 67-FZ) and other types work. A law introducing a compulsory type of insurance must define the parties and objects of insurance, the insured events, the minimum sum insured, how the premium rate is set and other essential terms.

The objects of insurance are property interests. The law divides them into two broad groups:

  • personal insurance — survival to a certain age or date, death, pension provision, harm to life and health, payment for medical services;
  • property insurance — possession, use and disposal of property, the obligation to compensate harm to third parties (liability insurance), and business risks.

The Civil Code (Article 928) prohibits insuring unlawful interests, losses from participation in games, lotteries and bets, and expenses a person may be forced to incur to free hostages.

Who operates on the insurance market

The licensed participants of the insurance business are insurance companies, mutual insurance societies and insurance brokers. They are licensed by the Bank of Russia, and licence details are entered in the unified state register of insurance business entities. Insurance activity without a licence is not allowed.

Insurance agents act on behalf of and on the instructions of an insurer, while insurance brokers act in the interests of the policyholder or the insurer. Policyholders, insured persons and beneficiaries are also parties to these relations. You can learn about a particular insurer in our directory of insurance companies.

Insurers' financial stability

The law requires that an insurer's obligations be reliably backed. The guarantees of financial stability listed in the law are economically justified premium rates, insurance reserves, the insurer's own funds (including authorised capital not below the statutory minimum) and reinsurance. Reserve funds are invested according to Bank of Russia rules, and insurers report to the regulator regularly. How risks are passed on to reinsurers is explained in the Reinsurance section.

Supervision: the role of the Bank of Russia

Since September 2013 the Bank of Russia has acted as the insurance supervisor. It issues and revokes licences, sets financial stability and solvency requirements for insurers, monitors compliance with the law and may take measures ranging from orders to restriction, suspension and revocation of a licence.

What rights the client has

  • On request, the insurer must explain the provisions of the insurance rules and the contract, and how the payout and the surrender value are calculated.
  • The insurance rules are binding on the client if the contract expressly refers to them and the rules are set out in the contract, attached to it or handed to the policyholder (Article 943 of the Civil Code).
  • Many types of voluntary insurance for individuals come with a "cooling-off period": under Bank of Russia Directive No. 3854-U, the contract can be cancelled within 14 calendar days with a full or partial refund of the premium.
  • Disputes between an individual and an insurer over claims of up to RUB 500,000 are first heard by the Financial Ombudsman (Law 123-FZ); this pre-trial step is mandatory.
  • From 1 January 2027, under Law No. 477-FZ of 26 December 2024, a guarantee scheme will protect individuals' rights under life insurance contracts; it is operated by the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA, ASV in Russian).

Why this matters

Law No. 4015-1 is the framework on which the rest of Russian insurance law rests. Understanding its logic makes it easier to read a contract, check an insurer and stand up for your rights. Practical tips are in the Insured event section, and reviews of other laws are in the Laws section.