Frequently asked questions about mandatory insurance

You have received a reminder about entry into an insurance contract. What should you do next?

Enter into a motor insurance contract immediately if the vehicle is in use. Contact an insurer to enter into the contract. You can easily select a suitable insurer with the help of the calculator of the Estonian Motor Insurance Bureau (LKF).

Delete the vehicle from the Motor Register if the vehicle is not in use. For this purpose, contact the Estonian Transport Administration. A vehicle can also be deleted from the Register temporarily (for up to two years) in the E-service. Temporary deletion of a vehicle and later re-registration thereof is free of charge.

If you are no longer the owner or authorised user of the vehicle, contact the Estonian Transport Administration immediately in order to update the data in the Motor Register.

You have received a payment notice of mandatory insurance. What should you do next?

Pay the claim filed.

To avoid any following claims, act as follows.

Enter into a motor insurance contract immediately if the vehicle is in use. Contact an insurer to enter into the contract. You can easily select a suitable insurer with the help of the LKF calculator.
Delete the vehicle from the Motor Register if the vehicle is not in use. For this purpose, contact the Estonian Transport Administration. A vehicle can also be deleted from the Register temporarily (for up to two years) in the E-service. Temporary deletion of a vehicle and later re-registration thereof is free of charge.
If you are no longer the owner or authorised user of the vehicle, contact the Estonian Transport Administration immediately in order to update the data in the Motor Register.

If you do not agree to pay the claim, you must file the correct objection, for further information see here.

Your car is not being used – is a motor insurance contract necessary?

Yes, it is. Even if a car, trailer, motorcycle or another vehicle specified in the letter is not being used, but has been registered in the Motor Register, it must be covered by a motor insurance contract. This also applies to a vehicle that is not in working order.

Delete the vehicle from the Motor Register if the vehicle is not in use. For this purpose, contact the Estonian Transport Administration. A vehicle can also be deleted from the Register temporarily (for up to two years) in the E-service. Temporary deletion of a vehicle and later re-registration thereof is free of charge.

You have received a payment notice, but you are no longer the owner of the car. What should you do next?

The person obliged to enter into an insurance contract and pay a mandatory insurance premium is the one who has been entered in the Motor Register:

as the owner of the vehicle (if no authorised user of the vehicle has been entered in the Register)
as the authorised user of the vehicle

If the recipient of a reminder or a payment notice is no longer the owner or authorised user of the vehicle, the person must immediately contact the Estonian Transport Administration in order to update the data.

If LKF has issued a payment notice, it must be paid irrespective of whether the owner of the vehicle has changed or not.

If the recipient of the payment notice issued by the LKF has been indicated as the authorised user in the Motor Register, the application for changing the data must be made by the person who has been entered in the Register as the owner.

You have received a payment notice without any prior reminder. Do you have to make the payment?

LKF always sends a reminder before the issue of a payment notice.

The obligation to enter into an insurance contract arises from the Motor Insurance Act and does not depend on whether you have received a reminder or not. Likewise, the application of mandatory insurance (automatic motor insurance) of an uninsured vehicle does not depend on a reminder of the LKF.

Thus, the payment must also be made if you received no reminder for any reason.

You entered into an insurance contract immediately after receiving a payment notice. Do you still have to pay the claim?

Yes, you do. The claim must also be paid if you entered into a motor insurance contract immediately after receiving a payment notice.

The LKF requests a mandatory insurance premium for the time when your vehicle was not yet covered by a contract (see the dates set out in the payment notice).

How can you check whether a car runs the risk of mandatory insurance?

With the help of a query from the LKF concerning the validity of motor insurance, it is possible to view according to the registration plate of a vehicle whether the vehicle has the mandatory insurance of an uninsured vehicle or runs a risk of the same in the nearest future.

It is possible to view all of your vehicles not covered by motor insurance in the eesti.ee portal.

You just bought a car, but you are not using it. Do you have to enter into a contract immediately?

If you bought a vehicle not covered by a motor insurance contract, you will incur the obligation to enter into an insurance contract immediately after you registered yourself in the Estonian Transport Administration as the owner of the vehicle. The insurance obligation also arises if you do not plan to start using the vehicle immediately.

For example, the obligation to enter into an insurance contract also arises as of the registration of the vehicle in your name even if

it must be repaired before starting to use the vehicle
there are no suitable weather conditions for using the vehicle

If you have registered a vehicle in your name that you do not plan to start using immediately, in order to avoid a mandatory insurance premium the vehicle must be deleted from the Motor Register temporarily until you start using it. For this purpose, contact the Estonian Transport Administration. The operation can be performed in the E-service of the Estonian Transport Administration.

In which case is the 12-month exemption from the insurance obligation applicable?

A vehicle registered in the Motor Register need not be covered by a motor insurance contract if less than a year has passed from the expiry of the last contract and the vehicle is not in use.

The foregoing exception is not applicable for example if

the vehicle has been deleted from the motor register and re-registered again before one year has passed from the expiry of the last motor insurance contract
the owner or authorised user of the vehicle changes in the Motor Register after the expiry of the contract

In such cases the obligation to enter into an insurance contract arises immediately after the vehicle or the person subject to the insurance obligation is registered in the Motor Register.

You already paid one mandatory insurance claim. Why did you receive another one?

Mandatory insurance is valid until a motor insurance contract is entered into or until the vehicle is deleted from the Motor Register. The latter may only be done if the vehicle is not in use.

LKF issues payment notices until mandatory insurance has ended. If you paid the first claim, but did not enter into a contract, we will issue a new claim for the next period when three months have passed.

Payment of a claim to the LKF does not mean entry into an insurance contract and therefore no 12-month exemption from the insurance obligation arises either.

You sold an end-of-life vehicle to a buyer. Should you do anything?

An insurance contract must be entered into by the person who is the owner or authorised user of the vehicle according to the Estonian Transport Administration.
If the buyer of the end-of-life vehicle has neither deleted the vehicle from the Register nor registered it in their name and you have a contract of sale, you should notify the Estonian Transport Administration of the transfer of the vehicle and make sure that the vehicle is indeed deleted from the Register.
If you do not have a contract of sale, you should temporarily delete the vehicle from the Register. This can be done in the E-service or customer service of the Estonian Transport Administration.