Motor insurance is one of the most important forms of insurance we have today. compulsory motor liability insurance (KGFB) can relieve the operator from paying large claims for damage caused to others, while CASCO (Casualty and Collision), for example, provides assistance in the event of damage caused by self-inflicted injuries or theft.
From 1 January 2025, the green card issued in electronic form will no longer have to be printed out by the vehicle owner.
This was decided by the General Assembly of the Central Organisation of the International Green Card Scheme (COB) in the summer of 2024. From now on, the holder can choose to present the green card to the authorities in paper or electronic PDF format, regardless of the software, hardware or operating system on which it is presented.
The organisation has decided that from 1 January 2025, authorities in all EU Member States will have to accept green cards in PDF format on a portable electronic device (e.g. smartphone, tablet) from foreign motorists visiting their country. This does not require any special technical device or application (e.g. QR code reader) to be used by the authorities. The only practical change is that instead of a printed green card, the same document will be checked on the basis of its electronic image.
The only practical change is that instead of a printed green card, the same document will be checked against an electronically displayed image. The use of traditional paper green cards will remain unchanged and will be presented and checked in the same way as before. In all cases, where the electronic version is not available or is not to be used by the holder, the green card must be printed on white paper in black ink on A/4 format. The technical implementation of the green card in the form of an electronic-only certificate is still pending, but is being negotiated.
The Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies, as the National Bureau, is of the opinion that the introduction of the new electronic green card does not require any changes to the existing Hungarian legislation and the Hungarian authorities have stated that they are ready to implement the new practice from 1 January 2025.
We remind our customers that insurance companies will send a separate customer information leaflet on the change to all drivers with compulsory third party liability insurance.
Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies
As per the definition determined by Act LXII of 2009 on Insurance Against Civil Liability in Respect of the Use of Motor Vehicles, the National Bureau is an organisation of Hungarian motor insurers providing compulsory motor liability insurance cover. This organisation is taking care of tasks related to co-ordination, the claims handling and settlements in the framework of the international Green Card System.
Compulsory motor liability insurance was established in Europe between the First and Second World Wars in order to ensure the necessary indemnity for the traffic victims.
In June 1952 the resolution of the Inland Transport Committee established the Green Card System with the participation of eight countries with effect from 1st January 1953. The eight countries were: Austria, Belgium, France, Netherlands, Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Federal Republic of Germany. Within a half-year, another four countries (Denmark, Norway, Finland, Ireland) joined this system. In the next few years, most European countries followed them. Hungary has been participating in the Green Card system since 1961.
With a permanent location in London (and co-operating with the Economic Commission for Europe of the United Nations), the Council of Bureaux (CoB) is the main governing and representative body of the Green Card System. (established in November 1951.)
The Green Card Agreement is based on two principles:
Due to the increase of the international motor vehicle traffic the idea to facilitate the operation of the system changed in spite of the satisfactory functioning of the Green Card system. The members of the Green Card system raised the idea of concluding supplementary agreements which are aimed at the elimination of producing and controlling the Green Card as a documentary evidence of the insurance cover.
During the parallel operation of the Uniform Agreement and its further development, the Multilateral Guarantee Agreement the idea of unification of the two agreements was first raised in 1999. The differences in the texts and as a consequence of this the different interpretations underlined the necessity of the unification.
According to Directive 2009/103/EC (Motor Insurance Directive), every vehicle normally based in the territory of a third country must, before entering the territory of Hungary, be provided either with a valid Green Card or with a certificate of frontier insurance establishing that the vehicle is insured in accordance with the Directive.
In all the different cases where our office in his capacity, shall be obliged to indemnify for the losses caused by using a motor vehicle, the loss may be reported to any of the insurance companies providing motor insurance. In case it has already been established on the spot of the accident, that the user of the motor vehicle causing the accident was uninsured, it would be advisable for the claimant to report the loss to his/her own liability insurer.
Should the loss caused by a motor vehicle under foreign registration, it would be advisable to obtain the name of the liability insurer as well as the insurance policy number of the said vehicle. Should this information be made available, the time required for the settlement of the loss would be much shorter. Furthermore, it is recommended to make an inquiry either at our office or at any of the insurance companies prior to the notification of the loss, whether or not the foreign liability insurer involved, would have a so-called correspondent insurance company appointed to handling and settling claims arising from losses caused in Hungary. If so, then the loss should be reported to this insurance company or to an organization appointed by the said company to handle insurance claims. In such cases, this organization will be acting on behalf of the foreign liability insurer, during the whole process of claim settlement.
In case the foreign insurer does not have a correspondent, then as soon as the loss has been surveyed, the amount of the loss has been established and the necessary documents have been collected, the whole set of documentation would be forwarded onto our office for further handling of the claim.
It is imperative that all relevant information be obtained and all circumstances carefully established on the spot of the accident. The essential information necessary to start the claim settlement process are all included in the so-called (European) Accident Report Form.This is to be completed in full and with reasonable accuracy. One has to bear in mind, that a driver involved in an accident is legally obliged to advise all other people involved in the same accident of the details of the motor vehicle driven by him/her as well as the particulars of the respective liability insurance.
A common problem of claim settlement is, that in most cases of accidents involving a truck & trailer, only the registration number of the trailer is recorded, although the registration number of the truck would be necessary to identify the liable owner. It would be very helpful to record the name of the country where the truck is registered .The reason is that more and more countries are adopting identical or very similar registration numbering systems, especially those states established in the past few years.
The Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies (MABISZ) launched its proprietary digital claim form – accident help service – application in 2019, which is unique on an international level, replacing the traditional “blue-yellow” paper claim form, its virtual version. The MABISZ E-kárbejelentő (E-Claim ReporterApp) was awarded “Website of the Year” in 2019 and “Technology Solution of the Year” in 2021.
The E-kárbejelentő offers a number of extra features over the traditional paper-based report. In the application, it is possible to fill in with pre-filled data, and thanks to the quick identification function, all required data on vehicle and insurance policy details are loaded from a central database by entering two data (registration number and date of birth in the case of an individual; registration number and tax number in the case of a legal entity). The background database is operated by an organization affiliated to the state. The title of data management is regulated by law. The loss report can also be supplemented with images and voice messages, which make it easier to settle the damage and, in some cases, make it unnecessary to inspect the vehicle for damage.
Download the Hungarian-English bilingual E-kárbejelentő quickly and easily from the AppStore or from the Google Pay store, and follow carefully the instructions!
Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies
The Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies maintains balanced relationships with key media players. Our press releases appear in both print and electronic media, and we are also present on major social platforms, including our own Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram pages.
The main objective of MABISZ is to represent and defend the interests of the Hungarian insurance sector, and our association is responsible for coordinating and organising activities of common interest to our members. The committees of MABISZ provide a forum for professionals and experts working in the same field to exchange experiences and to participate in (even external) professional events, plant visits.
On 5 June this year, the members of the MABISZ Property, Industrial and Technical Insurance Committee and Transport Insurance Committee were warmly welcomed by Schneider Electric’s CEELog logistics centre, where they received very detailed and useful technical information from their hosts during the plant visit.
As part of our social responsibility, we are always happy to participate in any charity event. This year, for the first time, we were honoured to be invited to the Children’s Day at the Heim Pál National Institute of Paediatrics, where we tried to surprise the little ones with colouring machines, cut-out cars made by many of our colleagues and lots of presents.
In line with its commitment to accident prevention and road safety, Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies(MABISZ) and National Police Headquarters- Hungarian Commission for Accident Prevention (ORFK-OBB) are organising Safety Week again this year from 15 to 21 September. In line with our tradition, the Child Safety regional road safety event series for Central Europe will also start at the same time. Details will be coming soon, but in the meantime you can check out our YouTube and Instagram sites for photo recaps of last year’s events.
Based on the reports of MABISZ members, the premium income of the Hungarian insurance market increased by 12.5% in 2024 on an adjusted premium basis compared to the previous year. Adjusted premium income in the life area grew by 15.1% and in the non-life area by 11.2%. The companies in the insurance sector are working responsibly for the benefit of Hungarian society, and they can be justly proud of this, said Mihály Erdős, President of the Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies, at his annual press conference on Monday 3rd March 2025.
Efficient and effective professional cooperation has been established this year between the Hungarian Insurers and the Associaton of Hungarian Insurance Companies(MABISZ), which can be built upon in the future – this was said at the executives’ roundtable discussion of the XIV International Insurance Conference of MABISZ on 20 November 2024. The largest annual event of the Hungarian insurance sector this year was dedicated to the role of digitalisation and artificial intelligence in insurance.
The Association of Hungarian Insurers organised the “Assure Yourself!” case study competition for the eighth time. This year, 200 students from 68 secondary school teams from all over the country entered the competition. As part of the competition, the competing teams carried out a questionnaire survey of their fellow students on insurance knowledge and planned events to promote insurance effectively. The podium winners of the 15 November final were teams of secondary school students from Eger, Nyíregyháza and Székesfehérvár.
Insurance and Risk is published by the Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies.
The aim of the quarterly journal is to create a credible platform for the scientific analysis and dialogue on current issues affecting the insurance sector, and to contribute to the development of financial literacy and informed decision-making on issues affecting the profession.
It also provides a publication opportunity for young researchers in the field of insurance. The journal focuses on articles that address current issues of relevance to the insurance profession from both a theoretical and empirical perspective.
We ask our prospective authors to carefully read the following information.
The Hungarian Dependent and Independent Insurance Brokers’ Reference System is a recurring letter system for maintaining the operation of high-quality insurance brokers and for helping their survival on the market.
The system operates with the voluntary participation of insurance companies and independent insurance brokers.
Insurance Europe (CEA)
Insurance Europe (formerly CEA *) is the “top association” which collects national insurance associations. It was founded in 1953 in Paris. MABISZ has been an associate member since 1992, and since 1998 it is a regular member of the organization. The goals of Insurance Europe include:
Council of Bureaux (CoB)
In Europe, in the advanced motorized countries, they made compulsory the insurances covering damages caused by motor vehicles between the two world wars. After the war, one of the first aims of the ruined continent was to make sure, that the victim of a road accident is not disadvantaged, if the accident was caused by a foreign car.
Presse Internationale des Assurances (PIA)
Our association – as the publisher of the Insurance Review – is a member of the international organization of insurance journals. The organization was founded in 1954 in Paris. The PIA currently has 18 permanent and 8 correspondent members, the scope of the organization is limited to Europe.
Association International de Droit des Assurances (AIDA)
The international organization brings together insurance lawyers.
At the end of November 2006, the IX. AIDA Budapest Insurance Seminar was held in Budapest. The theme of the international conference, which is held in every two year, was “New trends in the legal regulation of insurance contract law”.
International Committee of Life Insurance Medicine (ICLAM)
The insurance doctor is not only a healing specialist, but it plays an important role in insurances and on the market. Its activity connects to the establishment and operation of the insurance system in 3 main points.
All operators of motor vehicles with a permanent park in Hungary are obliged to take out an insurance policy to cover damage caused during the operation of the vehicle. Compulsory motor insurance (KGFB) is designed to provide increased protection for injured parties and to adequately cover justified claims for damages against the insured as a result of damage caused by the use of a motor vehicle.
Alfa Vienna Insurance Group Biztosító ZRT
Allianz Hungária Biztosító ZRT
CIG Pannónia Első Magyar Általános Biztosító ZRT
KÖBE Közép-Európai Kölcsönös Biztosító Egyesület
The price tariffs valid from January 1, 2025 are available on the KGFB Fee Calculator (Díjnavigátor). With the KGFB Fee Calculator, you can get to know the current offer of insurance companies operating in the domestic compulsory motor vehicle liability insurance market and all available discounts.
Please note that MABISZ only enables the calculation of fees through the KGFB Fee Calculator (Díjnavigátor), and does not manage the conclusion of contracts, cancellations, or the acquisition of damage history certificates. Information on the termination of the previous contract, as well as the standard termination form, can also be found on our website in Hungarian.
The operator (driver) of a vehicle based abroad must have the same motor vehicle liability insurance coverage as the operators of Hungarian vehicles upon entering the territory of Hungary and throughout the entire period of stay in the country.
Representation and protection of the interests of the Hungarian insurance profession. In addition, our association considers among its tasks the coordination and management of activities within our members’ common interest such as prevention of damage, education, protection against insurance fraud.
Since the end of the insurance monopoly in Hungary (1986), several insurance companies have been established in the country. The role of state-owned insurance companies was taken over by the newly formed public limited companies and insurance associations. At the same time, there was a radical change in the legal field of insurance, which required companies to concentrate their interests in a professional association.
On November 14. 1990. eight insurance companies founded the Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies (MABISZ).
Until now, the Hungarian insurance companies, insurance associations and the majority of hungarian branches of EU member states’ insurers joined MABISZ.
MABISZ’s activities are divided into two main areas: the professional advocacy activities of the association and the tasks related to third-party insurance.
Advocacy
In the framework of the association’s advocacy activity, the aim of our association is to represent the Hungarian insurance profession and to protect its interests. In addition, our association considers among its tasks the coordination and management of activities within our members’ common interest (eg prevention of damage, education, protection against insurance fraud). The MABISZ’s divisions provide a forum where experts working in common areas can exchange their knowledge. In order to support the research and the work on damage prevention, we are working on a single damage statistics system and several common damage databases.
Being part of the European Union, the Hungarian insurance market is in close contact with EU bodies and other Member States. In order to maintain these relationships, MABISZ is a member of Insurance Europe, a European umbrella organization for insurance associations and keeps in touch with a number of other international organizations.
In the context of MABISZ’s social commitment, it places great emphasis on consumer protection, professional information on insurance and the education of the general public. In this spirit, our website also contains a number of information materials. MABISZ publishes several publications annually to the general public and its members, including the MABISZ Yearbook, as well as a press review (Insurance Review) and a professional journal (Insurance and Risk). The report of MABISZ can be seen here.
Tasks concerning third-party insurances
The MABISZ’s Separated Organization Unit (ESZE) has a statutory mandate for dealing with tasks concerning third-party insurances. Among other things, it handles the Compensation Account which provides compensation to victims who were harmed by vehicles lacking third-party insurance, or in other cases, when the one causing damage is unknown. Also MABISZ ESZE manages the Compensation Fund which role is to compensate people, who had their third-party insurance at insurers becoming insolvent. MABISZ ESZE also operates the Information Center for international claims settlement and the Hungarian Green Card Office. An also known activity is the operation of Central Damage History Registry for registering damages and Bonus-Malus degrees.
Members:
Alexandre Jeanjean
Bacsó Gergely
Daniel Kempchen
Erdős Mihály
Dr.Fedák István
Holló Bence
Dr.Kiss Márk István
Zatykó Péter Iván
Holló Bence
President
Zatykó Péter Iván
Vice-President
Controlling Committee
Colleagues:
Dr. Molnos Dániel Secretary general
Dr. Kerékgyártó Csaba Head of Non-Life Insurance Division
and Head of General Secretariat
Jeney Attila Head of communication
Dr. Farkas Ramón Head of life Insurance Division
Kéri Zsuzsanna Head of Financial Accounting
and Controlling Department
Dr. Svecz Mária Head of Committee
Lencsés Katalin Head of Committee
Dr. Juhász Istvánné Head of Committee
Hortobágyi Katalin Head of IT division
Szilágyi József Head of IT department
Czirók Zsófia Head of Secretariat
Members:
Csata Dénes
Kiss Mariann
Kadocsa Balázs
Varga Krisztián
Lilli Róbert
President
Staff of the Bureau
Szabó Mihály, Head of Motor Claims Division
Dr. Rumi Tamás, Head of International Motor Claims Division
Kéri Zsuzsanna, Finance and Accounting
Tatár Zsolt
Head of Technical and IT Department
Dr. Horváth Zoltán, Chief Legal Officer
Bauer Zoltán, Head of Department
Turi István András, Head of Group
Dr. Varga Kristóf, Head of Group
Domak Gabriella Head of Actuary Group
Babocsai István Head of Internal Audit
Szabóné Zeke Ágnes Head of Group
Keresztes Róbert Accounting Group Leader
Managing Committee
Dr. Molnos Dániel Secretary general
Szabó Mihály, Head of Motor Claims Division
Dr. Rumi Tamás, Head of International Motor Claims Division
Dr. Láng Géza
Ribényi Ákos
Sándor Pál
Tallárom Tamás
Standing Committees and Commissions:
Sections:
CEO Club
“Insurance Review” (biztositasiszemle.hu) online magazine is published by the Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies.
“Biztositasiszemle.hu” online newspaper is published by the Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies (MABISZ). All rights reserved to copy and distribute any part of the newspaper. The news and notices of “Biztositasiszemle.hu” may be used exclusively with reference to “Biztositasiszemle.hu”, where the reference is in the form “Biztositasiszemle.hu online insurance journal.” The editorial staff of “Biztositasiszemle.hu” obtains all data, information and news posted on the portal from reliable and verifiable sources. The publisher makes every effort to verify the data and information before publication, but MABISZ excludes any liability for damages resulting from any untruth or inaccuracy of the information published on the site.
It can be accessed here: