Objectives

What tasks does the Polish Motor Insurers' Bureau perform?

As part of its activities, the Polish Motor Insurers' Bureau deals with:

issuing documents of insurance (Green Card Certificates) valid in other countries Green Card System.
concludes agreements with National Bureaux of other States of the System on the mutual recognition of documents of insurance
arranging the claim handling or carrying the claim handling processes of loss or injury caused in the territory of Poland by motor vehicles registered in States, National Bureaux of which are signatories of the Multilateral Agreement (i.e. the EEA countries, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Switzerland or United Kingdom);
arranging the claim handling or carrying the claim handling processes of loss or injury caused in the territory of Poland by motor vehicles registered in States, National Bureaux of which are signatories of Multilateral Agreement (i.e. the countries of EEA, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Switzerland or United Kingdom);
defining the principles and procedure of distribution of documents of frontier insurance, in particular establishing the specimen of such documents and keeping a record of them.

Furthermore the Polish Motor Insurers' Bureau acts as:

Compensation body

Czwarta Dyrektywa w sprawie ubezpieczeń komunikacyjnych powołała do życia instytucję Organu odszkodowawczego, którego funkcję na terenie Polski pełni, na mocy Ustawy o ubezpieczeniach obowiązkowych, UFG i PBUK z 22 maja 2003r, Polskie Biuro Ubezpieczycieli Komunikacyjnych. Instytucja ta z zasady podejmuje działania w przypadku, jeżeli zakład ubezpieczeń nie wypełnia, określonych normami Dyrektywy, obowiązków. Organ odszkodowawczy rozpatruje roszczenia powstałe w związku z ruchem pojazdów zarejestrowanych na terytorium państw , if:

the accident occurred in the territory of country of a EEA, other than the place of residence of the injured party,
the accident occurred in the territory of a third state belonging to the Green Card System.

The compensation body commences considering a claim if:

the insurance undertaking (or its claims representative) has failed to provide a reasoned reply to the claim presented within the three months of lodging the claim
the insurance undertaking has failed to appoint a claims representative in the country of the injured party,
it has not been possible to identify the insurance company responsible for the loss within two months since the date of the accident.

Organ odszkodowawczy przystępuje do działania na wniosek poszkodowanego, w terminie dwóch miesięcy od zgłoszenia roszczenia w Organie odszkodowawczym, jeżeli w tym okresie zakład ubezpieczeń (lub jego reprezentant ds. roszczeń) nie przedstawił poszkodowanemu odpowiedzi z uzasadnieniem na zgłoszone roszczenie. Organ odszkodowawczy nie rozpatruje roszczeń, jeżeli poszkodowany wystąpił na drogę sądową przeciwko zakładowi ubezpieczeń, w którym sprawca miał wykupioną polisę ubezpieczenia OC.

Information Centre

Ośrodek informacji ma za zadanie gromadzenie i udostępnianie informacji dotyczących umów obowiązkowego ubezpieczenia odpowiedzialności cywilnej posiadaczy pojazdów mechanicznych oraz informacji o reprezentantach ds. roszczeń ustanowionych przez zakłady ubezpieczeń. W Polsce rolę ośrodka informacji pełnią:

1. The Insurance Guarantee Fund

UFG has a data base concerning effected compulsory motor third party liability insurance contracts (vehicles registered in Poland), insurance undertakings underwriting the insurance within group 10 (excluding carriers' liability) as well as their claims representatives abroad.

2. Polish Motor Insurers' Bureau

PBUK provides information on the foreign insurance undertakings of the vehicle, which caused the accident as well as their claims representative in Poland.

In case of an incident (collision, traffic accident etc.) occurring abroad, involving a vehicle registered in an EEA or Switzerland, there is a possibility of pursuing claims in Poland. In order to do that, the injured party shall, after returning to Poland, contact the Polish Motor Insurers' Bureau, which will, on the basis of details concerning the person who caused the loss or injury (registration number of vehicle, country in which the vehicle is registered) provide information on the insurance undertaking of the liable party and on its claims representative in Poland.

After obtaining the above information it is possible to present the claim directly to the claims representative, who is obliged to provide the injured party with a reasoned reply within 90 days from lodging the claim. Shall injured party not receive a reasoned reply from the claims representative within that period, it is possible to present this claim to the compensation body, function of which is held by the Polish Motor Insurers' Bureau.

The claim may also be presented directly to the compensation body on condition that the foreign insurance undertaking of the vehicle responsible for the occurrence failed to appoint his claims representative in the territory of Poland.