site.btaRevisions to Insurance Code Concerning Third Party Liability Insurance Passed Conclusively

The National Assembly Wednesday adopted on second reading amendments to the Insurance Code, some of which concern third party liability insurance. Every person who owns a vehicle registered on the territory of Bulgaria and not stopped from driving is obliged to conclude a contract for such insurance.

This requirement does not prohibit any person other than the owner of the vehicle from concluding the insurance contract. Third party liability insurance shall also be compulsory for a person who drives a vehicle from a third country when entering the territory of Bulgaria, when it is not valid for the territory of Bulgaria.

Electric scooters must also have third party liability insurance.

The revisions envisage that certificates of insurance claims will be issued centrally by the Guarantee Fund on the basis of the data on insurance claims contained in the electronic register maintained by the Fund. In this regard, changes are envisaged to the “bonus-malus” system - adjusting the insurance premium for compulsory motorists' third party liability insurance depending on the claims submitted. 

For the purpose of determining the third party liability insurance premium, the insurer shall adopt and apply rules for adjusting the insurance premium on the basis of the claims made over a certain period of time (insurer's bonus-malus system). The rules shall include the procedure for adjusting the premium, the conditions and criteria which the insurer has set and the manner in which it uses the certificates of claims when adjusting premiums.

Where certificates of insurance claims are used in adjusting the amount of the insurance premium, the insurer may not treat the insured in a discriminatory manner nor unreasonably increase their premium on the grounds of their nationality or solely on the basis of their previous country of residence.

For the purpose of settling an automobile insurance claim, the insurer, or insurance intermediary, may create and maintain a copy of the driver's license of a driver involved in a motor vehicle accident.

The National Bureau of Bulgarian Motor Insurers shall determine - subject to the international treaties to which it is a party and the acts of the bodies of the Council of Bureaux - a uniform model of the Green Card certificate, as well as the form, procedure and conditions for its issuance and use. The Green Card certificate shall not be issued for trams and trolleybuses.

A local insurer, a local reinsurer and a branch of a third-country insurer and reinsurer licensed under this Code must have an entity identification code and notify the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) of this code within seven days of its issuance. The FSC shall refuse to issue a licence when it has received information from the State Agency for National Security that a third-country insurer poses a threat to Bulgaria's national security.