Good to know – motor insurance

On this page, you will find information about all things related to motor insurance.
It also contains various guidelines on how to act and who to contact in the case of a traffic accident.

• What to do when selling a vehicle

  When selling a vehicle, the motor third party liability insurance contract is automatically assumed by the new owner or authorised user. The contract is assumed at the moment the respective entry is made in the Traffic Register, i.e. when completing the sale in the Estonian Motor Vehicle Registration Centre. The vehicle can be a motor vehicle, motorcycle or a bus.

  All rights and obligations arising from the contract are transferred to the new owner or user, including the obligation to pay the insurance premium. This is independent of whether the previous policyholder was subject to an insurance obligation or not.

  After the sale, when the owner and the authorised user have been changed in the Traffic Register, the contract has been transferred, and the previous policyholder no longer has any rights in relation to the contract.

• Changes in contact details

  If your phone number, address or email address has changed, you can change it easily in our self-service.

• Check the validity of motor insurance

  In Estonia, all motor insurance contracts are registered in the Estonian Traffic Insurance Fund. If you signed the contract in the e-shop and haven’t received the contract documents yet, you can check the validity of your vehicle’s motor insurance here.

• What you need to know about the United Kingdom leaving the European Union (Brexit)

  Circumstances relating to motor insurance contracts as of 1 January 2021

  • You must get yourself a green card if you want to travel to the United Kingdom by car and your car is registered in Estonia.
  • You can take our frontier insurance for a UK vehicle, which is offered by the Estonian Motor Insurance Bureau.
  • A UK vehicle must have an effective green card or frontier insurance contract in order to enter Estonia. The existence of an insurance contract will be checked by a police officer or an assistant police officer (subsection 80 (1) of the Motor Insurance Act) and an uninsured vehicle is not allowed to enter Estonia (subsection 80 (2)).
  • A contract for a vehicle in delivery may not be entered into for a UK vehicle (subsection 14 (4) of the Motor Insurance Act).

  Circumstances relating to motor insurance damage as of 1 January 2021

  • The victim will receive indemnity in any case if damage is caused with a UK vehicle in Estonia. The indemnity will be paid by the Estonian correspondent of the insurer of the UK vehicle that caused the damage or by the Estonian Motor Insurance Bureau (if the correspondent has not been determined or the vehicle had no motor insurance).
  • If an Estonian person was injured in a traffic accident that took place in the UK and was caused by a UK vehicle, the injured party can generally only claim indemnification for the damage in the United Kingdom and in English.
  • If an Estonian person was injured in a traffic accident that took place in another contracting state of the European Economic Area and was caused by a UK vehicle, the injured party will only be able to claim indemnification of the damage from the green card bureau of the country where the damage was caused.

• What should be done upon a loss event?

  Please read about the loss adjustment process here.

  Some general guidelines:

  • The first thing is to always ensure the safety of people. If people have been injured as a result of the occurred event, immediately notify the Rescue Board and proceed as instructed.
  • In case of theft, an act of vandalism or robbery, notify the police straight away and proceed as instructed.
  • Try to keep in mind or, even better, write down as much about the circumstances of the accident and take as many photographs as possible – the registration number of the other vehicle, the address of the site of the accident, the contact details of the witnesses, etc.
  • Take all reasonable steps to ensure that the damage incurred does not increase – cover broken windows with plastic film and transport the immobile vehicle to a safe place (a repair shop, car park or home).
  • Notify the insurance company of the damage as soon as possible.

• Personal injury covered by motor insurance

  Personal injury covered by motor insurance occurs when a person is injured in a traffic accident.

  According to the exact definition, a case of personal injury covered by motor insurance occurs when a traffic accident has taken place as a result of the movement or location of a motor vehicle insured on the basis of a motor insurance contract, causing injury to a person. Personal injury covered by motor insurance is handled on the basis of the Motor Insurance Act.

• What information do I have to submit to insurance?

  In order to file a claim, send us all of the documents that prove the extent and nature of the personal injury caused by the traffic accident, incl.:

  • a claim in free format, where you list all of the damage and expenses related to the accident and the details of your current account;
  • extracts from medical records and other related medical documents (referrals for further treatment, incl. rehabilitation, treatment plans, etc.);
  • information about sick leave. If you are temporarily incapacitated for work as a result of a traffic accident and you go on sick leave, we would like to know the period of your sick leave. After you’ve sent us the exact details of your sick leave, we can make queries ourselves, but it’s important that you inform us about your sick leave.
  • If your needs increase as a result of the traffic accident, e.g. you have to buy or rent aids (crutches, wheelchair, shower chair, ramp, etc.), please inform us about this as soon as possible. Please have all of the expenses related to the adaptation of your home (disabled armrests, support equipment, etc.) approved by us in advance;
  • If your personal belongings (the clothes and footwear you were wearing at the time of the accident, your handbag, etc.) were damaged in the traffic accident, please make sure you take photos of the damage and don’t throw the items away before the loss adjuster has managed to collect the data necessary for ascertaining the damage. Note the following information about each damaged item: the brand of the item; the approximate time when it was purchased and what was its price at the time it was purchased;
  • if you suffer long-term incapacity for work (permanent loss of capacity for work) after a traffic accident, please send us the decision on assessment of capacity for work where the reasons and extent of the capacity for work have been identified in detail. The capacity for work is assessed by the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund and you will find the exact instructions for submitting a request for assessment of capacity for work on the website of the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund.

  Please note that it’s difficult to provide an exact list and instructions on which data we need in the case of personal injury covered by motor insurance. Each case is individual and separate. Start by describing the health damage caused to you in as much detail as possible in your initial claim. The loss adjuster will read your description and give you individual instructions on what to do next.

• Who else should I notify?

  If someone has been injured as a result of a traffic accident, you must notify the emergency centre of the traffic accident according to § 168 of the Motor Insurance Act and act according to their instructions.

• I was involved in a traffic accident, but the health damage only became apparent later. What should I do?

  Some injuries really cannot be immediately identified and may only become apparent later. In this case, you must also register the injury immediately in the nearest medical institution and inform the insurer of the vehicle that caused the damage about it as well. If the person who caused the damage is not known for certain and the police are processing the case, inform the police about the injuries you sustained.

• To whom should I submit my claim for damage if the culprit has not been identified?

  You don’t have to wait until the police have identified the culprit before you can submit your claim. You can do it earlier. Just submit the claim for damage to the insurer of the presumable culprit.