EU scraps major post-Brexit insurance requirement for UK drivers
The European Union is to remove the need for UK drivers to carry an insurance green card on the continent.
Since Brexit, drivers with a British or Northern Irish licence have been legally required to carry a green card as proof that they have sufficient insurance cover to drive in the EU. This includes drivers travelling between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
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Hide AdHowever, the European Commission has now agreed to ditch the requirement as part of a wider package of concessions designed to ease tensions around the Northern Ireland protocol.
Green cards are an internationally recognised means of proving that a driver has insurance cover for driving in another country. Pre-Brexit the UK was part of the “free circulation zone” which waived the requirement to carry such proof. However, since the UK left the EU, drivers have needed to carry a physical copy of the card along with their other documents.
The change is expected to come into effect by the start of August but anyone travelling to the free circulation zone – which includes EU nations plus Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, Serbia or Andorra – before then will still be required to obtain and carry a green card.
Huw Evans, director general at the Association of British Insurers said: “This is excellent news. We have long campaigned for the UK to be part of the green card free circulation zone so we warmly welcome the decision by the European Commission.
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