International Motor Insurance Card
The International Motor Insurance Card Model
International Motor Insurance Card - former Green Card
The purpose of the document called International Motor Insurance Card or formerly Green Card consists in certifying that the vehicle for which it has been issued possesses a sufficient third party liability insurance cover when crossing the border of a foreign country.
The International Motor Insurance Card is issued by 46 insurance bureaux of Europe and individual Mediterranean countries, which are all affiliated to an umbrella organisation, the Council of Bureaux (CoB). The Swiss National Bureau of Insurance (NBI) is a member of the CoB. By virtue of this affiliation, it has to follow the requirements set up by the CoB when it issues its International Motor Insurance Cards.
The NBI authorised its member companies to issue International Motor Insurance Cards on their own. The Insurance Card has to be ordered from the insurer with whom the vehicle insurance policy has been concluded. In most cases, the insurers automatically hand out an International Motor Insurance Card after the conclusion of the insurance contract.
The model
The International Motor Insurance Card must correspond to the model shown below. Certain variations are allowed as long as the model complies with the specifications of the CoB and the issuing company has obtained a “Good for Print” from the NBI General Secretariat. The International Motor Insurance Card can be printed or, starting from January 1, 2025, issued and presented in PDF format on electronic devices.
- Printout on green or white paper
- Paper size: min. A6, max. A4
- Font colour black
- Faultless printout (in case of stripes or other printing errors, the process must be repeated).
- The International Motor Insurance Card may be issued electronically and in white in PDF format starting from January 1, 2025.
Territorial Scope
The bilateral agreements with the Russian and Belarusian insurance bureaux have been terminated as of May 31, 2023. The COB membership of both bureaux has been suspended as of June 30, 2023.
The COB membership of the Iranian Insurance Bureau will be suspended as of January 1, 2024.
The two categories of countries within the Green Card system:
Countries having signed the Multilateral Agreement (lime green)
Motorists with vehicles registered in the countries displayed in lime green on the map above generally no longer need an International Motor Insurance Card when entering other countries displayed in lime green. They enjoy sufficient motor third party liability insurance cover while circulating on their territories.
Countries having signed the Green Card Agreement (dark green)
When travelling to a country displayed in dark green on the map above, motorists have to order an International Motor Insurance Card from their insurer, unless the insurer already supplies them automatically. The Insurance Card confirms that the vehicle has sufficient insurance cover while abroad.
However, Swiss insurance companies may restrict cover for the countries displayed in dark green on the map by crossing out their country code on the Insurance Card. Whenever a country code is crossed out on such a Card, the document does not any longer provide cover for the corresponding territory. Then it is necessary to order a new Card which provides the needed cover from the insurer or to conclude a frontier insurance policy when crossing the border.
Since the International Motor Insurance Card is valid for a limited period of time, it is important to check its validity before setting off on a trip.
In the event of an accident, the duplicate of the Insurance Card – if there is one – should be given to the police or the injured party. If a duplicate of the Card is not available, a copy will have to be made or the police will record all the relevant data in the police report.
Particularities
Territorial scope of the International Motor Insurance Card in general (former Green Card)
The International Motor Insurance Card contains a field which includes letters for several countries. The field only displays the letters of States whose national Bureaux are members of the Green Card System. It shows the complete territorial scope of the International Motor Insurance Card.
The insurer who emits the Insurance Card is free to exclude specific countries from cover. The insurer excludes the territory of a state from cover by crossing its letters out. Before going on a trip abroad, it is therefore important to check if the corresponding country code is displayed on the International Motor Insurance Card and not crossed out.
However, Swiss insurance companies are not allowed to exclude the States of the registration plate agreement from insurance cover and to cross out their codes on the International Motor Insurance Card (art. 63 par. 2 of the road traffic act SVG). This is of little importance though. The registration plate delivered by one of these States certifies sufficient MTPL cover when entering the territory of another country of the registration plates agreement.
Particularities within the territorial scope of the International Motor Insurance Card (former Green Card)
Kosovo
The International Motor Insurance Card does not provide any cover for the territory of Kosovo. When entering Kosovo, the local authorities demand the conclusion of a frontier insurance policy. The other way round, drivers of vehicles registered in Kosovo also have to conclude frontier insurance policies when entering the territories of Green Card countries or the European Economic Area.
A precondition for considering a possible future cover by the International Motor Insurance Card for this territory consists in the accession of a forthcoming bureau of insurance of Kosovo to the Green Card System. For this, this bureau would have to become a member of the Council of Bureaux (CoB). However, the constitution of the CoB only permits the membership of bureaux from countries which are UN members. The declaration of independence of Kosovo alone does not fulfil this condition. The UN cannot admit Kosovo among its members before the country has not been recognised by the majority of the international community. This is the reason why the territory of Kosovo still remains excluded from the territorial scope of the International Motor Insurance Card.
Please note:
Neither Swiss insurance companies nor the Swiss National Bureau of Insurance (NBI) are competent for dealing with demands for refund of frontier insurance policies issued in Kosovo. Requests for information and demands for refund concerning Kosovar frontier insurance have to be addressed to the Kosovo Insurance Bureau.
Kosovo Insurance Bureau
Fazli Grajqevci Nr.6
Prishtina 10000 Kosova
Office: +381 38 245 110
Fax: +381 38 245 110
Azerbaijan (AZ)
The Insurance Bureau of Azerbaijan has received approval from the Supervisory Board of the COB to issue International Motor Insurance Cards for vehicles registered in Georgia and Kazakhstan for the year 2025. There are no insurance offices in Georgia and Kazakhstan. The IMICs for the two countries will be issued by the Azerbaijani company OJSC Pasha Insurance. The approval is valid from January 1, 2025 until December 31, 2025.
Principality of Liechtenstein
The country code CH provides cover for the Swiss territory as well as the territory of Liechtenstein. The Swiss Bureau is fulfilling the task of the insurance bureau of Liechtenstein. In the context of the International Motor Insurance Card, Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein are understood as one single territory. The country code CH on the card implies that both territories are covered.
Russia and Belarus
The bilateral agreements between the EEA countries and Switzerland on one hand, and the Russian and Belarusian insurance bureaux on the other hand, were terminated on June 1, 2022, with a notice period of 12 months, ending on May 31, 2023. The COB General Assembly in 2023 decided to suspend the membership of the Russian and Belarusian insurance bureaux indefinitely starting from June 30, 2023.
Insurance companies from EEA countries and Switzerland are no longer allowed to issue International Motor Insurance Cards for the territories of Russia and Belarus. Additionally, International Motor Insurance Cards issued by the Russian and Belarusian insurance bureaux are no longer accepted in the EEA countries and Switzerland.
Cross-border motor vehicle traffic between the EEA countries and Switzerland, and Russia and Belarus, is no longer possible with the International Motor Insurance Card. Travellers to and from Russia and Belarus are required to purchase frontier insurance.
Iran
The General Assembly of COB has decided to suspend the membership of the Iranian Insurance Bureau indefinitely starting from January 1, 2024.
The Iranian Insurance Bureau is not allowed to issue International Motor Insurance Cards that are valid beyond December 31, 2023. Similarly, all insurance bureaux are requested not to issue International Motor Insurance Cards that are valid for the territory of Iran and have a validity period beyond December 31, 2023. Travellers to and from Iran are required to obtain frontier insurance starting from January 1, 2024.