FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. WHO ARE ENTITLED TO OBTAIN INFORMATION?
The Cyprus Information Center discloses information to the following persons, provided that
those persons have a legal interest to obtain such information:
· to any injured person,
· to any person who has his usual place of residence in Cyprus and who is involved in an accident in a member state of the E. U or the European Economic Area,
· to any person who has his usual place of residence in Cyprus and who has an accident in Cyprus,
· to any Insurance Company whose insured is involved in an accident with a vehicle whose driver or owner or his Insurance Company or his address is unknown.
2. WHAT PROCEDURE SHOULD BE FOLLOWED IN CASE A VEHICLE WITH CYPRUS REGISTRATION NUMBERS IS INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT ABROAD?
· If an accident occurs abroad and a Cypriot driver is responsible, the latter should make available to the injuredparty all details in relation to his Green Card, the policy number of his frontier insurance or the policy number of his third party insurance in Cyprus. Furthermore, he should advise his insurance company within reasonable time.
· If an accident occurs abroad and responsible is a person other than the injured Cypriot, the injured Cypriot should put down the personal details of the foreign driver as, for example, his name, surname and his address as well as details of the vehicle’s insurance as, for example, the policy number, the period of validity, the vehicle’s registration number, the name and address of the Insurance Company which issued the policy and then to apply to such Insurance Company which is competent for the handling of the claim and the payment of compensation.
In case the injured party returns to Cyprus having in his possession the above details, he may submit his claim to the Cypriot representative of the insurance company of the foreign vehicle.
3. PROCEDURE FOR ESTABLISHING THE IDENTITY OF THE REPRESENTATIVE
The Cyprus Information Center keeps a record of all registered Cypriot vehicles which are covered by insurance. At the same time, it keeps a record on which it registers the representatives of the Cypriot insurance companies licensed to transact Motor Insurance business in all countries of the European Economic Area.
In case any person is involved in an accident in a member state of the European Union and returns to his country of residence, then he has a legal right and he may apply to the Information Center of his country for information. In this case, the Information Center of the injured persons’ country will get in touch with the Information Center of the state where the accident occurred and will request to be informed of the representative of the Insurance Company which insured the vehicle with which the injured party was involved in the accident.
The information Center of the injured party, as soon as it secures the requested information, will get in touch with the injured party and will disclose to him the representative to whom he may submit his claim.
It goes without saying that the victim will produce such information (see Frequently Asked Question 2) so as to assist the Information Center of his country to trace the representative.
4. WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE FOR THE APPROVAL OF PAYMENT BY THE MOTOR INSURERS’ FUND?
Any person claiming compensation from the Motor Insurers’ Fund, submits a claim in the prescribed form. As far as damage to property is concerned, the person claiming should in addition inform the Fund to inspect his damage prior to the commencement of repairs. Every claim is examined separately and it is either settled out of court or results in a legal action.
5. IN WHAT COUNTRIES IS THE 4TH MOTOR INSURANCE DIRECTIVE (MID) BEING APPLIED?
The Directive applies in all member states of the European Union, as well as those of the European Economic Area (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway). On the 1st May 2004, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia acceded to the European Union. For the above countries, the 4th Motor Insurance Directive applies for accidents which occurred after the 1st May 2004.
6. WHERE IS THE INSURANCE OF CYPRIOT DRIVERS VALID, WHEN THEY VISIT COUNTRIES IN WHICH THE 4TH M.I.D. APPLIES?
As from the 1st May 2004, as regards Motor Third Party Insurance, Cyprus, together with the other 24 Member States of the E. U, plus Switzerland, Croatia, Iceland and Norway and later Andorra are considered as one area. This means in effect that if a Cypriot drives in one of the above countries a motor vehicle bearing Cypriot motor plates, it should not be checked at the point of its entry in the country for proof of existence of insurance cover, as the Cyprus International Insurance Bureau (M.I.F) guarantees the payment of compensation to any injured person in the above countries, whether or not the Cypriot vehicle is covered by insurance.