European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial
Services and the Capital Markets Union Mairead
McGuinness, said: “I welcome today's
agreement because it will strengthen the rights of our
citizens, as policyholders, and above all in the event of
an accident – irrespective of whether it occurs in their
Member State of residence or anywhere else in the EU.
“
The Directive better protects people by ensuring that all
Member States set up bodies to compensate injured parties
in a timely manner, in the event that the insurance
company in question becomes insolvent. Until now, there
have been no EU-level rules to ensure that injured
parties are swiftly compensated in such situations. This
has particularly affected those who have been covered by
cross-border motor third party liability insurance.
Experience has shown significant delays in the payment of
compensation to injured parties in such cases.
More details
The amendments agreed today clarify the scope of the
Directive, including what vehicles are subject to
compulsory insurance and what the insurance coverage
should be. In particular, the rules now clarify that
accidents caused during the normal use of a vehicle as a
means of transportation, including its use on private
properties, are as a rule covered.
The revised Directive will further facilitate the free
movement of persons by harmonising claims history
statements. When a policyholder moves residence to
another EU Member State, their claims history (resulting
in a "no-claims bonus" or "bonus-malus" rating) is not
always taken into account by motor insurers in the new
Member State of residence. The harmonised claims history
statement, which contains standardised information for
such cross border situations, will prevent such
discrimination.
The revision also addresses uninsured driving, which is
unfortunately a problem that also affects cross-border
travel. It will now be possible to carry out checks on
the insurance of vehicles registered in another Member
State, and to exchange data, if these checks form part of
a general system of checks on the national territory, are
not discriminatory and do not require stopping the
vehicle.
