Over 13,000 Unregistered Cars in Zagreb

The Croatian Insurance Bureau and the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia continue their actions within the campaign “Stop Uninsured Vehicles” and activities aimed at reducing the number of uninsured and unregistered vehicles, as well as increasing road safety.

Thus, this past weekend, with the aim of informing vehicle owners about all the harmful consequences of operating an uninsured and unregistered vehicle, an educational campaign was held at Cvjetni Square in Zagreb. Numerous interested citizens gathered around the promotional stand, where representatives of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia and the Croatian Insurance Bureau distributed informational leaflets, balloons, and answered numerous inquiries.

According to data from the Croatian Insurance Bureau, there are 11,162 uninsured vehicles in the city of Zagreb, which are vehicles whose insurance renewal period has expired for more than 60 days. According to this data, 2.4 percent of the total number of vehicles in the city of Zagreb are uninsured. The total number of uninsured vehicles at the national level, compared to developed Western countries, as well as some Eastern ones, is still alarmingly high.
The Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia issues a misdemeanor order and a fine of 700 kuna to every vehicle owner who does not deregister the vehicle and return the plates within the legal deadline, and initiates misdemeanor proceedings for operating an uninsured vehicle – fines range from 5,000 to 20,000 kuna. The Ministry also has the authority to deregister a vehicle without returning the driving license and registration plates if more than one year has passed since the expiration.

Drivers of vehicles are also fined 2,000 kuna if they operate an unregistered vehicle or if their driving license has expired for more than 15 days.

Since driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle falls under serious traffic offenses, employees of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia continuously take measures to identify offenses related to unregistered and uninsured vehicles on the roads through regular traffic monitoring and targeted actions.

Additionally, to reduce the number of vehicles whose driving license has expired for more than 30 days, police officers will continue to issue misdemeanor orders to vehicle owners who have not renewed their driving license within the legal deadline, or who have not deregistered the vehicle and returned the registration plates to the competent police department, while vehicles whose driving license has expired for over a year will be deregistered ex officio.

Driving and possessing an uninsured and unregistered, yet underegistered, motor vehicle brings numerous misdemeanor penalties to its owner, and the absence of appropriate automobile liability insurance can lead to catastrophic financial repercussions on the property of the owner or driver of such a vehicle. Namely, in the event that a driver, operating an uninsured vehicle, causes damage that can be measured in millions of kuna, the Croatian Insurance Bureau will compensate all injured parties – victims of the traffic accident caused by the uninsured vehicle, but has the right to seek reimbursement of the total amount of damages paid, increased by any costs and interest from the same person responsible for the damage, that is, from the driver or owner of the uninsured vehicle.
This fact indicates that an individual vehicle owner, in order to avoid the cost of mandatory insurance – averaging around 1,460 kuna annually, puts themselves in a certain situation of being repeatedly penalized for offenses and ultimately exposes themselves to the risk of bearing the cost of damages in a traffic accident potentially amounting to millions. Therefore, the joint action of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia and the Croatian Insurance Bureau, which is being conducted in all cities of Croatia, aims to raise citizens’ awareness of the importance of timely renewal of insurance and vehicle registration.