Assignments

What assignments does the Polish Motor Insurers’ Bureau perform?

In conducting its business, PBUK is responsible for:

Issuing insurance documents (Green Card Certificates) valid in other countries of the Green Card System.
Concluding agreements with National Bureaux of other System Members on the mutual recognising of insurance documents
Organising claims settlement or directly settling claims caused on Polish territory by owners of motor vehicles registered abroad in possession of valid insurance documents (Green Card) issued by the foreign National Bureaux
Organising claims settlement or directly settling claims caused on Polish territory by owners of motor vehicles registered in countries, whose National Bureaux are Signatories of the Multilateral Agreement (i.e. the countries of EEA, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Switzerland or United Kingdom);
Defining rules and procedures for the distribution of frontier insurance policies, in particular determining their templates and their recording.

Furthermore, PBUK acts as:

Compensation body

The Fourth Motor Insurance Directive established the institution of the Compensation Body, whose function in Poland is performed, under the Act on Compulsory Insurance, UFG and PBUK of 22 May 2023, by the Polish Motor Insurers’ Bureau. In principle this institution acts when an insurance company does not fulfil its obligations as specified by the Directive. The Compensation Body examines claims arising in connection with the movement of vehicles registered on the territory of , if:

The accident occurred on the territory of an EEA, other than the state where the victim has their residence
The accident occurred on the territory of a third country Member of the Green Card System.

The Compensation Body shall proceed to consider the claim if:

The insurance company (or its claims representative) has not provided a “reasoned reply” to the claim within 3 months of the date when the visiting victim presented his/her claim for compensation
The insurance company has not nominated a claims representative in the injured party’s country
The insurer of the responsible vehicle is not identified within two months after the accident)

The Compensation Body takes action at the request of the injured party, within two months of reporting the claim to the Compensation Body, if within that time period the insurance company (or its claims representative) did not present the injured party a “reasoned reply” to the claim. The Compensation Body does not consider claims if the injured party has taken legal action against the insurance company in which the perpetrator had purchased civil liability insurance policy.

Information Centre

The Information Centre is responsible for collecting and sharing information regarding compulsory MTPL insurance policies as well as information regarding claims representatives nominated by the insurance companies. In Poland, the following institutions acts as Information Centres:

1. Insurance Guarantee Fund

UFG is responsible for keeping registers of the registration numbers of the vehicles (license plates) in Poland and the number of its Motor Third Party Liability (MTPL) insurance policy); on insurance companies conducting insurance business in group 10 (excluding the carrier’s third party liability insurance) as well as their claims representatives outside of the borders of our country.

2. Polish Motor Insurers' Bureau

PBUK determines and shares information on foreign insurance companies , whose insured were responsible for accidents, as well as on foreign claims representatives nominated in Poland. PBUK obtains this information from foreign Information Centres.

In the event of an incident (collision, road accident, etc.) which took place abroad, and which involved a vehicle registered in an country of EEA or Switzerland, there is the possibility of pursuing one’s claims in Poland. For this purpose, after returning to Poland one should contact the Polish Motor Insurers’ Bureau which will, based on the information about the perpetrator of the accident (registration number of the vehicle, registration country of the vehicle), provide information, in which insurance company the perpetrator of the accident was insured as well as who his claims representative is in Poland.

After obtaining the above information, the claim can be reported directly to the claims representative, who is obliged to provide a reasoned reply to the injured party within 90 days of the claim being filed. If within that timeframe the injured party does not receive a reasoned reply from the claims representative he/she can report his/her claim to the Compensation Body, which is the Polish Motor Insurers’ Bureau.

The claim can also be directly reported to the Compensation Body in situations where the foreign insurance company with which the perpetrator of the accident was insured did not nominated a claims representative in Poland.