The GPCV has defined the requirements for granting, refusing, or revoking authorization to correspondents, as well as a set of rules to ensure effective and timely protection for victims of road traffic accidents in Portugal caused by foreign vehicles, when claims are handled by a correspondent appointed in Portugal.
These rules also aim to enable correspondents to demand prompt responses from their client insurers, particularly regarding the existence of insurance coverage.
The 6th Motor Insurance Directive has finally been transposed into Portuguese law with the publication of Decree-Law No. 26/2025 of March 20, which introduced amendments to Decree-Law No. 291/2007 of August 21.
The aim is to strengthen the protection of victims of road accidents, particularly those involving trailers or in situations of insolvency or liquidation of insurers.
Here are the main changes introduced:
1.- New derogation from the insurance obligation, relating to vehicles that are temporarily or permanently withdrawn from use and prohibited from use, provided that administrative procedure or other verifiable measure has been put in place.
2.- Protection of injured parties in accidents involving trailers, particularly when the tractor and trailer are insured by different insurers. This new regime facilitates the compensation process for injured parties, allowing them to request either insurer (the tractor or trailer insurer) to identify the other insurer and pay the full compensation. In addition, where only one of the vehicles is insured or where it is only possible to identify one of the insurers, that insurer is liable for the payment of the full compensation to the injured party, up to the limit of the insured capital.
3.- Compensation in the event of the insurer’s insolvency or winding-up proceedings: the purpose of this measure is to ensure that road traffic injured parties are always compensated, even in the event of the insolvency or winding-up proceedings of the insurer responsible for payment. Injured parties can claim compensation directly from the insolvency body in their Member State of residence, which in Portugal is the Motor Guarantee Fund (FGA).
4.- Review and update of minimum compulsory insurance amounts. This law incorporates a clause for the uniform review ofminimum compulsory insurance amounts (harmonized index of consumer prices – HICP), which must be updated every five years, as proposed by the European Commission.
As is well known, since June 1, 2022, the minimum compulsory insurance amounts are as follows: €6,450,000 per accident for bodily injury and €1,300,000 per accident for material damage.
5.- Claims-history statement. Decree-Law No. 26/2025 specifies that insurers who take these statements into account when determining premiums may not discriminate against the policyholder on the basis of their nationality or residence and must treat statements issued in another Member State in the same way as those issued in Portugal, including when applying any discounts.
6.- Independent price comparison tools. The 6th Directive provides that Member States may certify instruments that enable consumers to compare, free of charge, the prices, tariffs, and coverage of compulsory motor vehicle liability insurance contracts or create public price comparison tools. Decree-Law No. 26/2025 assigns the power to certify independent price comparison tools to the ASF and establishes the requirements that such tools must meet. It also allows the ASF to create this tool.
7.- Checks on insurance obligation. New technological developments, such as technology that allows automatic license plate recognition, enable checks on insurance without stopping vehicles. It is this reality that the Directive and the transposing legislation respond to, authorizing the checks on insurance obligation only if they are carried out in a non-discriminatory manner, necessary and proportionate to the aim pursued, and within the scope of (i) a control that is not exclusively aimed at verifying insurance, or (ii) a general control system carried out in relation to any vehicles, regardless of where they are normally based, and which does not require the vehicle to be stopped.
On July 10, we held the second meeting between the GPCV and Correspondents (non-insurers), an initiative that is part of the policy adopted to strengthen the relationship between the two.
At that meeting, we had the opportunity to present the GPCV’s activity program for 2025, to communicate the main decisions adopted at the General Assembly of the Council of Cabinets, held on June 5 in Hamburg, and to share market news and current issues in the context of international claims.
The next meeting is scheduled for the end of the year, on a date to be determined in due course.
The Portuguese Green Card Bureau has formally expressed its support for the ideals of the “Charter of Road Traffic Victims Rights”.
This is a code of conduct that aims to raise awareness of the rights of road traffic victims and bring together a set of best practices in the handling of claims.
This document represents the culmination of years of work by the Council of Bureaus (COB), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and the Institute for European Traffic Law (IETL).
You can consult the “Charter” website here.
