Car insurance validity in the EU
Validity of compulsory and optional insurance
When you register a car in any EU country, you must insure it for third-party liability. This compulsory insurance is valid in all other EU countries. It covers you if you have an accident, causing damage to property or injury to anyone other than the driver. It doesn't cover other costs (e.g. the cost of repairs to your own vehicle).
Warning
The information on this page applies to all types of motor vehicles.You can also take out additional, optional insurance, called first-party liability, covering other risks. This insurance extends your cover (e.g. to injuries to the driver, damage to your vehicle, theft of your vehicle/its contents, vandalism, and legal assistance).
Warning
There are no EU-wide rules on optional car insurance.Check the terms and conditions with your local insurer before you travel abroad. Insurers can apply different rules in each country. Your insurance could be limited by time (e.g. a month abroad) or by distance (e.g. 150km from the border of your home country) or might exclude some countries for some types of risk, such as theft.
Car insurance in your host country
You must register your car in the country where you normally live. You do not need to register your car in your host country if you can prove that you are only staying there temporarily, e.g. as a student.
When you register, you will have to present proof that you have insurance coverage.
The car registration authorities in your host country should accept insurance cover from any insurance company:
- based in that country or with an office there
- without an office in that country but authorised to provide services there.
Warning
If you are moving to another EU country and need to re-register your car, you will have to check with your insurer whether your current contract will be valid in the country you are moving to.
In principle, you can also insure your car in an EU country that is not your country of residence. However, you should check if the insurance company offers cover for non-residents or cross-border services.
Sample story
Is insurance from my home country valid abroad?
Lazlo, from Slovenia, moved to Ireland, taking his car, for which he has a standard Slovenian insurance policy.
Once in Ireland, he'll need to register his car with the Irish authorities and find out if he can drive on his Slovenian insurance. If not, he can ask the national green card bureau which insurers he can contact to take out new insurance in Ireland.
Find out more about national regulations on car insurance
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Buying new insurance abroad
If your current contract is not valid in the country you are moving to, or expires if you re-register your car there, you can contact the national green card bureau/information centre to ask which insurers offer car insurance in that country.
Insurance premiums and claims history
Motor insurance premiums differ from one EU country to another, mainly due to differences in national contract laws, risk assessments and compensation schemes or complex and expensive international claims management.
In some EU countries, your claims history can affect your insurance premiums. You may have heard this called a no-claims discount, no-claims bonus or bonus-malus system. If you make no claims during the year, your insurer may give you a discount when you renew your contract. But if you made a claim, you may be asked to pay more.
You can request a claims history statement from your insurer at any time. This document covers any accidents for which you requested financial compensation over the last 5 years. Insurers must provide your claims history within 15 days using the standardised EU form.
When you take out a new car insurance and you show your claims history statement to the new insurer, they:
- cannot treat you unfairly or charge extra fees because of your nationality, or because you lived in another EU country before
- must apply your past claims history to any discounts the same way they do for local residents.
Warning
Some insurers may apply different discounts based on your claims history, so always compare quotes and policy terms to find the best rate. An insurer must publish a general overview of how they make use of claims history statements.Sample story
I have a good driving record at home, so why is the insurer abroad charging me a higher premium?
Rosa, from Italy recently moved to France. She had been driving in Italy for 10 years without any claims, so her insurance premiums there had been relatively low. Before her move, she obtained her claims history statement from her Italian insurer and began looking for new coverage in France. The first French insurer she contacted refused to recognise her Italian driving record. However, Rosa knew that EU insurers are legally required to consider claims records from other EU countries. After she raised this point, the insurer accepted her Italian claims history. To ensure she got the best deal, Rosa continued comparing policies until she found an insurer offering the most advantageous terms and affordable rates. She also checked the conditions of coverage to ensure her specific needs were met.