Is Car Insurance Compulsory?
If you are a new driver, then it is important to remember that car insurance for new drivers (Fahranfänger Kfz Versicherung) as well as existing drivers is compulsory. Car insurance is a large sector of the insurance industry, that includes a number of different policies and policy variations. The most basic way to distinguish individual car insurance contracts is based on whether or not they are a compulsory form of government insurance. While the situation differs widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, most nations have some form of compulsory vehicle insurance.
Compulsory and Voluntary Car Insurance
The way mandatory car insurance is implemented and regulated also differs greatly, with some countries linking compulsory insurance with car registration and licensing and other countries leaving it more up to the individual car owner. While comprehensive personal and property car insurance is not generally covered in these forms of mandatory vehicle insurance, most nations require that third party protection is available before allowing drivers to operate vehicles on a public road.
In Australia, third party coverage is a mandatory requirement that is included in the vehicle registration levy. In the United Kingdom, there is also a law that anyone driving on a public road needs to have access to at least third party personal injury insurance, and this requirement is linked with the national 'vehicle license' or 'tax disk' which needs to be displayed on a vehicle. Because a tax disk can not be purchased without taking out at least a third party personal policy, this insurance is also tightly regulated and readily enforced.
In the United States, the situation does differ from state to state, although a basic form of insurance that covers third party persons and property is compulsory in most states. Some U.S states have extended this requirement through "Personal Responsibility Acts" to entitle all drivers to carry additional liability insurance protection. In Germany, it has been compulsory to have third party personal insurance prior to keeping a motor vehicle since 1939, with additional protection available through private car insurance firms. The situation is much the same throughout Europe, with a basic level of personal third party cover considered to be the minimum requirement in the majority of situations. |
