Car insurance
without leaving your home 

You can add Maximum Assistance to any My Car insurance package and benefit from the widest range of assistance. 

Maximum Assistance means:

• towing without a kilometre limit in Poland and towing up to 750 km abroad, e.g. in case of an accident,
• a replacement vehicle for up to 10 days, including in the event of an accident, theft or breakage of the windscreen,
• mobility service – we will pay for the transport of the driver and passengers from the place of the event to any other place within the distance of up to 100 km in case of e.g. breakdown or accident.

Under Maximum Assistance you can also count on such services and assistance as:

• repair of the insured vehicle on site,
• hotel accommodation or return to the place of residence or continuation of the journey, 
• information and concierge services
• wheel replacement in the event of a puncture while driving in the insured vehicle, 
• fuel delivery to the insured vehicle,
• return to recover the insured vehicle after theft, 
• trailer towing,
• body transport, 
• scrapping of the insured vehicle

The insurance is effective in Poland and in other European countries (including the European part of Turkey and the Greek part of Cyprus), except for Belarus, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine and Georgia.

If you are selling a car, you need to take care of several formalities, relating to, among others, third-party liability insurance. Check what you have to do to get a reimbursement for any unused insurance period from your insurance company.

Selling a car and third-party liability

By law, as the seller of a car, you need to transfer your third-party liability insurance policy to the new car owner. You could say that the buyer buys the vehicle together with the insurance. You are obliged to inform your insurer within 14 days about the transfer of vehicle ownership. Don’t wait - do it as soon as possible. If your vehicle is insured with Allianz, you can use a ready template to do that. 

You can also draw up the document yourself. Remember that such a report should include:

• policy number,
• details of the vehicle purchaser (full name, address, PESEL number or business name, address and REGON number),
• your details,
• vehicle information (make, registration number). 

What happens if you don’t report  sale of your vehicle to the insurer?

If the insurance is about to expire, the policy will automatically be renewed and you will have to submit explanations to avoid paying for it. According to the law, the contracting parties are jointly and severally liable for the payment of the premium until the insurer has been informed about the sale. Remember that until the sale has been reported, from the insurer’s point of view you are the owner of the vehicle, and thus in case of any events caused by the new owner you may be required to prove that you were not the perpetrator.

Reimbursement of third-party liability insurance premium

When you sell your car, you also hand over your third-party liability policy to the new owner. You may receive a refund of the premium for the unused insurance period – but this is done entirely at the discretion of the buyer. You will receive a third-party liability insurance refund if the buyer of the vehicle terminates the contract with the insurer. Why would the buyer do that? There may be several reasons:

• the insurer may recalculate the premium due to the change of ownership of the vehicle and the amount may not be satisfactory to the buyer,
• the buyer wants to use another company’s services.
• If you terminate your third-party liability insurance after the sale of your car, the termination will have no effect.

What is a collision? 

This is a common term, it is not featured in regulations, but it is commonly used by insurers and police officers. It refers to events that occur in road traffic resulting in material loss or bodily injury resulting in disruption of bodily functions or a health disorder lasting less than 7 days. However, it is not possible to determine precisely what such injuries mean, as they can only be determined by a doctor – it does not refer to time spent in hospital.

If there is a collision, you don’t have to call the police. Talk to the perpetrator. If they admit that they are the culprit, they have to write down the collision perpetrator’s statement. Remember that it is the perpetrator who has to fill in and sign the document – you cannot fill in the form and just let the perpetrator sign it. In such a situation they could later claim that the statement is not theirs. Remember to carry such a statement form in your car, e.g. in the glove compartment. It will be useful if there’s a collision. If the police need to be called, everything will take much longer. If the car does not require towing, no one is injured, you can continue with your journey.

Reporting damage after a collision

The fact that a collision has occurred must be reported to the perpetrator’s insurer. It doesn’t matter whether you came to an agreement with the perpetrator and drew up a statement or if the police were called to the collision site. You can report a collision by phone, online or in person at the insurance company's branch. In case of more serious damages, it is recommended to notify the insurer immediately, especially if the car needs to be towed. Then the insurance company should quickly arrange to have the vehicle towed. However, if the car has not been badly damaged and nothing stands in the way of continuing the journey, you can continue driving and report the collision a bit later. How much time exactly do you have to report a collision? Article 819 § 1 of the Civil Code indicates that it is as much as 3 years. If the damage results from a crime or an offence, such a claim can be made at the latest 20 years after the crime has occurred.

The sooner you report the damage, the better. After a longer period of time, the post-collision damage may spread and will not look as it did when it was reported – it will not match the description. In case of voluntary policies, the timeframe for reporting a loss may be completely different – here the insurers can determine it at their discretion. You can check these timeframes in the General Terms and Conditions of Insurance. In case of theft or if the damage is a result if a crime, you should report it immediately or the next day.

How to report an insurance loss?

Currently, insurance companies offer many ways of reporting a loss. You can do it:

• by phone – remember, however, that most often such phone calls are taken within specified hours.
• online – fill out a special form. You should usually also be able to check the current status of your application online later.
• at the insurance company’s branch
• by mail to the insurer’s address
• by e-mail.

You buy the car together with the third-party liability insurance and thus take over all rights and obligations associated with it. If, for example, the previous owner has divided the payment for the policy into two instalments and the date for payment of the next instalment falls within the period when you are the owner of the vehicle, it is your responsibility to pay it – unless, of course, the premium has been paid earlier. When you become the vehicle owner, you can:

• use the current third-party liability policy until the end of the contract,
• terminate the policy with the current insurer (the buyer has 30 days from the purchase of the vehicle to do that) and conclude a contract with another insurer.

Remember, however, that in case of termination, you must purchase a new policy in order to maintain continued coverage.

Please note that the contract concluded by the previous vehicle owner does not renew automatically!

What happens to voluntary comprehensive insurance after the sale of a car?

Comprehensive insurance is voluntary and the same rules do not apply to this type of policy as to third-party liability insurance. It is similar in case of other voluntary insurance policies, such as Assistance. If you have sold a car, you will receive a refund for the unused period – you just have to inform the insurer that the car has a new owner.

If you are a buyer and want to have comprehensive protection, you should buy it additionally. 

Comprehensive insurance and third-party liability insurance after the sale of a car

The transaction of purchase and sale of a car requires minor formalities in terms of third-party liability and comprehensive insurance. If you are not sure what to do, please contact us – we will be happy to help.