5 Tips for Car Tourists (“Green Card”)

To ensure that your car trip abroad goes smoothly, consider these 5 tips from MTIBU Director General Volodymyr Shevchenko on how the international system of motor third party liability insurance “Green Card” works.

Tip #1. Preparation is half the battle

When you plan to travel abroad by car, take care not only of preparing your own documents, but also check in advance whether you will be able to cross the border. One of the prerequisites for crossing the border for a car owner is a valid Green Card certificate. It is better to buy it at the offices of full MTIBU member insurers that have the appropriate license, rather than relying on the possibility of concluding a contract directly at the border. Today, 10 insurers have the right to conclude such contracts.

Important: the Green Card policy is concluded in paper form; there is no electronic version of the policy yet.

Tip #2. It is better to overpay than to get a fine

There are two categories of Green Card depending on where the motorist plans to travel. One category of policies is valid in the territory of such countries as Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Azerbaijan (ABMR). The second one is valid in all countries of the Green Card system (“The whole system”). The cost of these types of policies differs. For example, a policy for 15 days in the ABMR countries will cost UAH 475, while the “Whole System” policy for the same period will cost UAH 750. Please note that the cost of the policy depends on the euro exchange rate, so depending on its change, the cost of the insurance certificate may decrease or increase.

In addition, when concluding the contract, make sure that the policy validity period is several days longer than the duration of the planned trip. The fact is that if you are delayed abroad, it will be impossible to extend the policy online. But if they find out that you don't have insurance coverage abroad, you will be fined. Moreover, according to the laws of the country where the offense was detected. The fines are significant - from 200-300 euros, and up to 1.5 thousand euros. Even criminal proceedings and detention are not excluded.

For example, in Poland there is such a thing as “covert traffic control”. The police travel in civilian vehicles, without any markings, and monitor what is happening on the roads.

We were contacted by a citizen who was returning home via Poland. 100 km from the border, he was stopped by the local transport police. They checked the documents and found that the Green Card certificate was falsified, because it was actually issued for another vehicle. In addition, the “document” had already expired. Then the operational-investigation team arrived and detained our citizen, and he was held in custody for two days. A criminal case was opened against him, and the vehicle was taken to the impound lot. The driver was deported from the EU and banned from entering for a certain period of time.

Tip #3. If the policy is not in the MTIBU database, you will not be allowed to travel abroad

Since February of this year, the rules for verifying the validity of policies when crossing the border have changed. Previously, border guards checked only the availability of an insurance certificate and the absence of signs of forgery and falsification, but recently this process has become automated and the check is carried out through a query to the MTIBU database. The information in the database must match the driver's policy data. If the database does not contain information about a valid insurance contract, border guards do not let the car through until it is concluded. Since February of this year, more than 11,300 cars have been returned to Ukrainian territory at certain border crossing points alone due to the lack of a Green Card. The drivers of such cars were offered to conclude an international insurance contract, after which they could continue their journey.

Checks are carried out at all border crossing points and every car traveling abroad is checked. If the data in the physical policy and the MTIBU database differ and there is reason to believe that the contract is fake or falsified, border guards will call an operational investigation team and a criminal case may be initiated against the driver. For example, in the first ten days after the introduction of the automated Green Card check, the State Border Guard Service found almost 20 fake insurance policies and opened a number of criminal cases.

To avoid getting into trouble, check the validity of the policy in advance. You can do this on the MTIBU website by entering your own car details.

Tip #4. Familiarize yourself with the rules of the country you are traveling to

It is useful to familiarize yourself with the traffic rules and rules of settlement in the event of an accident before traveling. The fact is that in some countries, it is impossible to call the police when settling an accident where there are no victims. Moreover, drivers may be fined for calling the police without a good reason in this case. Settlement is carried out by concluding a European protocol. The Europrotocol form is unified, meaning that the names of the fields and columns are the same everywhere. Remember that the European Protocol should be drawn up in the language you speak. The best thing to do is to ask your insurer for the Ukrainian form of the European Protocol when you sign the Green Card certificate and take it with you. And in no case do not sign documents that you do not understand.

Tip #5. Don't put off solving the problem until later

In the event of an accident abroad, the settlement algorithm depends on whether the driver was the culprit or the victim.

In any case, it is necessary to provide your certificate details to the other parties to the accident, record the circumstances of the accident, take the contacts of witnesses, and notify the insurer that an insured event has occurred.

If you cause an accident, the victim will be compensated in accordance with the terms of the Green Card system, i.e. it will be paid by the National Bureau of the Victim and then invoiced to the Ukrainian insurance company with which you have a Green Card agreement.

If you are a victim, you will need to contact the insurance company of the person responsible for the accident. Please note that not all insurers have an extensive network of offices, but many of them accept documents by mail or even electronically.

If the culprit did not have an insurance policy, you should contact the Green Card Bureau of the country in which the culprit's car is registered. A list of national bureaus is available on the MTIBU website.

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