Green Card System

The Green Card System

The European Green Card System has existed since 1949.

The international Green Card insurance certificate was originally introduced in 1953 by eight European countries – Austria, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Great Britain and the Federal Republic of Germany.

On January 25th, 1949 the Working Party on Road Transport of the Inland Transport Committee of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe sent to the Governments of the Member States its Recommendation No 5, widely known as the Geneva Recommendation, for the establishment of uniform and practical provisions to enable motorists to be satisfactorily insured when entering countries where insurance against such risks is compulsory.

A unfied insurance document for travel abroad was introduced due to the existing differences in the limits of liability, insurance provisions and way of settling the claims in each of the countries where the MTPL Insurance is compulsory.

The System known as the Green Card System consists of 48 members represented by their National Insurers’ Bureaux.

Purpose of the System

The purpose of the Green Card System is to enable the compensation of victims of road accidents for sustained material or non-material damages caused by vehicles bearing foreign registration plates as well as to avoid the necessity to provide a valid MTPL insurance cover at the border of each visited country.

The purpose is achieved through the activities of the National Bureaux - professional and independent organizations which are Members of the Council of Bureaux, constituted in the country of establishment and recognized by its Government as the organization which fulfills the requirements and provisions of the Recommendations and Resolutions adopted under the aegis of the Principal Working Party.

Functions of the Bureauxs of the Green Card System

The Green Card Bureaux have two main functions according to the Internal Regulations:

In each participating State a national bureau has been created and officially approved in order to provide a dual guarantee to:

• its government that the foreign insurer will abide by the law applicable in that country and compensate injured parties within its limits;
• the bureau of the visited country of the commitment of the member insurer covering third party liability in respect of the use of the vehicle involved in the accident.

When is a Green Card Certificate needed?

The Green Card Certificate is not a required document for the Member Countries of the EEA as well as Andorra, Switzerland and Serbia.

The Green Card Certificate is obligatory when visiting third countries of the Green Card System, namely: