The Ombudsman has sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance, which shows that car owners are complaining about “excessive and unfair” penalties for not having third-party liability insurance. The complaints also concern refusals to write off or grant relief in repayment, and they also complain that “decisions in these matters cannot be appealed”. The ministry responded to the letter from the Ombudsman.
Ministry of Finance refutes the allegations. It emphasizes that the general obligation to conclude a third party liability insurance contract “is conditioned by the special social function of this insurance, which is to protect third parties from the effects of frequent, unfavourable events resulting from the movement of vehicles”. As it explains, this regulation gives the injured parties a guarantee of receiving compensation, but also protects the perpetrator of the accident from excessive financial burdens and secures their property from excessive depletion due to this liability.
And, as the Ministry of Finance explains, the number of cases of lack of third party liability insurance for vehicles is growing every year. “To illustrate the scale of the phenomenon, it is worth pointing out that in 2018, approximately 93 thousand notices (to pay a fine – ed.) were issued, while in 2023 there were almost 350 thousand. At the end of the first half of 2024, i.e. as of June 30, 2024, the Fund issued nearly 170 thousand.”
“Impossibility of appealing a decision to impose a fee”
The Ministry of Finance does not agree with the position that a citizen therefore has no possibility of challenging a decision on a penalty. As it explains, first of all, each person who has received a summons from the Fund has the opportunity to “prove fulfilment of the insurance obligation”, i.e. present a valid contract for the conclusion of third party liability insurance, documents indicating the loss of the vehicle before the year of inspection, or any other evidence to confirm the lack of obligation to conclude a third party liability insurance contract.
Moreover, as explained by the Ministry of Finance, “in the process of claiming fees for failure to fulfil the obligation to conclude a civil liability insurance contract for motor vehicle owners, two-instance procedure“. Therefore, the person liable for payment may “file objections which are considered by the Fund's Management Board in the form of a decision. In turn, the person liable for payment may appeal against the decision of the Management Board. complaint to the Fund Councilissuing a final decision”. Moreover, as the Ministry of Finance adds, “the decisions issued by the UFG Management Board in the course of enforcement proceedings in administration are subject to appeal appeal to the UFG Council“.
The Ministry of Finance also notes that, regardless of the above regulations, anyone who is called upon to pay the fee has the right to file a lawsuit to a common court, pursuant to Art. 10 sec. 2 of the Act on Compulsory Insurance, at any stage of the proceedings conducted by the Fund or the enforcement body.”
“Refusing to waive fines or grant relief in their repayment”
“Citizens also point out that the UFG bodies usually refuse to waive the fee or grant relief from repayment – despite demonstrating an exceptionally difficult financial and material situation of the citizen,” writes the Ombudsman.
As explained by the Ministry of Finance, “the contractual nature of compulsory insurance does not sufficiently motivate entities obliged to conclude agreements, therefore the sanction in the form of a fee is intended to encourage behavior in accordance with applicable regulations”. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance points out, “the rate of debt cancellation reaches almost 45% of all debt collection cases, with the dominant reason for the decision to cancel debts remaining the difficult life and material situation of debtors (in terms of quantity – 69%, and in terms of value – 67% of all cancellations in total, at the voluntary and enforcement stage). Taking into account all decisions also concerning the granting of relief in repayment (deferrals, installments), in recent years there have been over 60,000 such decisions per year, and in the first half of 2024 the Fund has already taken over 56,000 such decisions, which is almost twice as many as in the years 2022-2023”.
The Ministry of Finance adds that “the Fund makes its assessment based on many potentially co-occurring factors, such as: advanced age of the obligated person, permanent and chronic illnesses that prevent you from working, disability, having many children, helplessness in life, low income or chronic unemploymentand also random accidents (fire, flood, etc.), resulting in loss of health or property. The fund also includes objective impossibility of concluding an insurance contracta, including e.g. hospitalization or illness that actually prevents the conclusion of an insurance contract.”
The Ministry of Finance notes, however, that drivers “on the one hand, in their applications to the Fund, demand the cancellation of the fee, and on the other hand, they “do not cooperate” with the Fund and do not present the required documents, leaving no choice and thus forcing the Fund to make a negative decision. The Fund cannot base its decisions solely on the argument of the obligated party's difficult situation, because such arguments are often raised in an unjustified manner.”
The fee for lack of third party liability insurance
As the Commissioner for Human Rights adds, the problem of the amount of penalty fees is also often reported. As he informs, penalty fees “are established on the basis of the minimum wage index, the upward trend of which has been much greater in recent years than before (in 2004 – PLN 824; in 2014 – PLN 1,680, in 2024 – PLN 4,300). The penalty fee is an appropriate multiple of the minimum wage: passenger cars – the equivalent of twice the minimum wage – currently PLN 8,600; trucks, tractors, buses and other vehicles – the equivalent of three times the minimum wage – currently PLN 12,900”.
In response, the Ministry of Finance explains that “this issue should be considered in a broader context than through the prism of the minimum wage. The amount of fees should be assessed taking into account the amount of potential financial consequences for a person who does not have a third party liability insurance policy for motor vehicle owners at the time of a road accident and in the context of similar sanctions in the international arena.”
As explained by the Ministry of Finance, “for a small amount of insurance premium (the average premium for third party liability insurance in 2023 was approximately PLN 600), the perpetrator of an event can avoid having to cover the damage caused by the event in the thousands. Based on specific data, the average amount of recourse claimed by the Fund reaches over PLN 20,000 (as of 2023), and almost 1,000 debtors of the Fund must repay from their own funds from PLN 100,000 to PLN 2 million.
Moreover, the amount of this fee, as the Ministry of Finance adds, “is balanced” compared to other EU countries. As he explains In Australia for the lack of third party liability insurance, a fine of EUR 10,000 (approx. PLN 43,000) may be imposed, average salary 2,800 euros (approximately 12,000 PLN). In Italy the fine is EUR 3,396 (approx. PLN 14,600) with an average monthly salary of approximately EUR 2,500 (approx. PLN 11,000). IN Germany you can get a fine of between 1 and 30,000 euros. IN Spain the fine may reach 3,000 euros (approx. PLN 12,900), and in France the fine for driving without insurance is 3,750 euros (approx. 16,000 PLN).
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