New Poland law -- old car insurer obligated to continue insurance on a vehicle that is between renewals?

Is this correct? -- I've heard that if car insurance is not renewed on time, the old insurer is obligated to maintain some form of insurance cover until the inception of a new policy. This, I was advised, is a new law.

It sounds too good to be true that a motorist may now take his or her time to renew or find a new insurer.

So, I am assuming that I have misunderstood what this new law (if it exists!) actually means in practice.

Could someone please advise on what the new law actually means for a driver and insurance?

It's about OC ( civil responsibility of car's possessor ). After the 12 months insurance contract will be another 12 months OC insurance even you do nothing.

Sometimes will be different if you didn't pay whole fee of the last 12 months OC insurance or by bankruptcy of your insurance company.
Your insurance company must send you OC conditions within 14 days since the beginning of new insurance period.

Act of 22th May 2003 about obligatory insurances ....
.... .
In Polish:
Art. 28. 1. Jeżeli posiadacz pojazdu mechanicznego nie później niż na jeden dzień przed upływem okresu 12 miesięcy, na który umowa ubezpieczenia OC posiadaczy pojazdów mechanicznych została zawarta, nie powiadomi na piśmie zakładu ubezpieczeń o jej wypowiedzeniu, uważa się, że została zawarta następna umowa na kolejne 12 miesięcy, z zastrzeżeniem ust. 2.

1a. W razie zawarcia umowy, o której mowa w ust. 1, zakład ubezpieczeń jest obowiązany potwierdzić zawarcie umowy dokumentem ubezpieczenia w terminie 14 dni od dnia jej zawarcia.

2. Zawarcie następnej umowy nie następuje, pomimo braku powiadomienia, o którym mowa w ust. 1, jeżeli:
1) nie została opłacona w całości określona w umowie składka za mijający okres 12 miesięcy lub w przypadku cofnięcia zakładowi ubezpieczeń zezwolenia na wykonywanie działalności ubezpieczeniowej w zakresie obowiązkowego ubezpieczenia OC posiadaczy pojazdów mechanicznych albo

2) w przypadku ogłoszenia upadłości zakładu ubezpieczeń, ogłoszenia lub zarządzenia likwidacji zakładu ubezpieczeń albo oddalenia wniosku o ogłoszenie upadłości lub umorzenia postępowania upadłościowego, w przypadku, o którym mowa w art. 98 ust. 2.

I heard the new law put a stop to this automatic renewal and you had to accept the offer of renewal
thats what i heard from MTU last week as i left it late and had to set up a new policy

I appreciate the posts above but need it to be explained more clearly. I don't really understand.

InWroclaw do you have a car which is registered in RP and car's OC insurance ? When will be or was the end of your OC insurance ?

For example when your OC car's possessor insurance ( polisa OC ) ends on 8th February 2014 and you will not write to your insurance company that you don't want to renew it for the next period, you get the new OC insurance for next 12 months. It will happen just by the law I mentioned before. Your insurance company must receive your statement no later than one day before last day of your insurance. In this case on 7th February.

This insurance is obligatory in RP. If you don't have it the fine would be 3360 zł.

If you have a car insurance policy it will be automatically renewed by your insurer unless, you changed companies giving 30 days notice. If for example your car was insured by Hestia and you decided to change your policy to Warta without notifying Hestia in advance you would end up paying two insurance policies. From my experience it is always better to find a good insurance broker through word of mouth and inform him of your needs and let him take care of things.When you sell your car of course you can cancel the policy or transfer the policy to the new owner.

Really? I changed from Allianz to Axa Direct last May and didn't notify Allianz in writing, they certainly haven't made me pay or come after me for any debt. Although I suppose it could be because Allianz declined to provide insurance for me last year.


Last year the Mrs contacted her cousin (who is an insurance broker and always gives her 'mates rates'), the best he could offer was 50% more than price that I got from Axa Direct.

Thank you Gask7 and Warsawski, although Harry's observation is puzzling. An insurance broker said to me that the vehicle remains covered and I shouldn't worry. He was not the same broker as the other insurer and was talking about offering me a better price through his brokerage. All quite bizarre.

When you switched to Axa you provided them with a copy of your insurance contract with Allianx, Axa would have contacted them and cancelled the contract on your behalf.


Would no claims bonus have anything to do with this?

I'm pretty sure that I didn't.


Possibly, I have got seven years' NCB (which is something I would really really like to insure). And a licence which has never had even a single point on it.

PZU seem to insure NCB bonuses, I only lost 10% after an accident.

This happened when we did it (the other way round) however you do need to check it's been done.

Is it legal to not renew and have no insurance if a car is unused and off the road such as stored in a garage?

Unfortunately it's not legal. It must be deregistered first, but then you probably can't re-register it in Poland.

Officially, deregistration is possible only by authorised car disassembly stations. Or when car is sold abroad (apropriate documentation must be presented).

Thanks, I shall bear that unfortunate confirmation in mind :(

Merged: New owner of an insured car - is OC insurance transferable in Poland? Registration.

Hello Poland,

I am interested in finding out if the OC (Obowiązkowe ubezpieczenie) is transferable. In other words, if I purchase a used car from a private owner (who has registered and bought OC under his/her name), does his/her insurance continue to be effective until its expiry date? Of course, I will buy a new OC under my name when the current OC under a previous owner's name expires. Or, am I obligated to purchase a new insurance under my name, immediately after buying (or registering) this particular car? Let's say if a police stops me (or I get into an accident), would OC under a previous owner's name be enough for legal purposes?

For ten days, as far as I'm aware.

Hi, I think my question is somewhat different from the rest of this thread. I don't mean anything about renewing the OC under the previous owner's name. I only mean whether the OC under the previous owner will continue to be effective (until its expiry date) if I purchase and register a car under my name.

From reading this forum, I have learnt that the OC is attached to the car. For example, anyone can drive my car (of course, with a permission) and would be still covered by OC. I wonder if this is still true if the car is sold.

Roger5, could you please elaborate what you mean (or where you get that information)?

Yes, until you register a car under your name. Theory says you have to register a car under your name in 30 days.


I think, "without you permission" is still covered too.

Ska, I'm just going by what the insurers of the previous owner of my car told me when I bought it two months ago. If I sold a car, I'd want the new owner to get their own policy asap. I wouldn't want to be associated with any subsequent accidents.

What happens if I register the car under my name, say 2 months later? I am asking because some paperworks may take a bit longer (honestly, I don't know how long it will take me to get a PESEL and etc)

If police don't catch you on the road and OC is valid for these "2 months later" nothing happens, but don't try to wait 2 months and 1 day later. Every single day without OC may cost you a lot. UFG may aim their cannons at you ;)