Europe's most widely purchased P&C insurance line

Motor third-party liability insurance, which is compulsory in the EU, provides financial protection against claims for physical damage and bodily injury from traffic collisions, while comprehensive motor insurance offers financial protection or first-party losses and, in some cases, fire, theft and breakdown services.

Motor premiums accounted for 35% of all property and casualty insurance in Europe in 2018 and totalled €144bn.

Review of the EU Motor Insurance Directive

In 2018, the European Commission put forward a proposal for a revision of the Motor Insurance Directive, which is an efficient instrument for the Europe-wide protection of road users.

Insurance Europe strongly supports the review’s objectives of increasing the protection for victims of accidents and ensuring policyholders are all treated fairly and without discrimination. It is particularly supportive of the Commission’s view that autonomous vehicles fall within the scope of the Directive and of its proposal to allow new technology — such as number-plate recognition — to be used in the fight against uninsured driving.

However, the Commission’s proposals fail to provide enough clarity on the scope of the MID, which Insurance Europe believes should be limited to vehicles used in traffic. In addition, the Commission’s proposal to standardise claims history statements at European level is impractical and without clear benefits to consumers.

Technological advances are moving fast

New technologies offer the potential to create innovative services for consumers and to make road transport safer, cleaner and more efficient. Indeed, connected and automated vehicles, intelligent transport systems and telematics are already changing the way we travel.

To foster consumer choice and fair competition, it is essential to ensure all service providers in the automotive value-chain can access the wealth of data generated by these new technologies. Insurance Europe calls on EU policymakers to take legislative action to ensure that drivers remain in control of their vehicle data.