The Green Card System

A car owner who wishes to drive his car outside his own country (hereinafter:   “the Country of Origin”) is in need of insurance coverage in the destination country because, in general, local car insurance is not valid outside the Country of Origin.The Green Card service is intended to address this problem and enable car owners to travel abroad with valid insurance.

The Green Card certificate entitles the car owner who purchased car insurance in his Country of Origin to the handling of claims in respect of legal liability vis-à-vis a third party in the destination country.

Under Regulation 6 of the Motor Vehicle Insurance Regulations (Insurance Certificate), 5730 – 1970, a car owner who holds a certificate that was issued by an insurer who is a member of the Green Card Office does not have to purchase compulsory vehicle insurance in Israel, despite the fact that the coverage that he purchased in the Country of Origin is not identical to the coverage under the compulsory vehicle insurance that is in force in Israel.

The legal framework for the operation of the Green Card Organization is an international treaty that all the members of the Association have joined.The Association of Insurance Companies in Israel (AR) signed the treaty on behalf of the State of Israel.

The goals of the treaty are:

• To enable the issuing of a policy in the country in which the vehicle is registered, which will be valid in all the member countries of the Green Card Organization (hereinafter:“the Member Countries”).
• To enable the handling of claims in the destination country:
• To enable the passage of vehicles between the Member Countries, because the Green Card certificate is recognized as evidence of the existence of valid compulsory insurance in each of the Member Countries.

It is emphasized that:

• Coverage under the Green Card is liability insurance alone and is not personal insurance for the driver.
• The Green Card certificate is a letter of coverage for the handling of claims in respect of policies issued in Europeand in Israeland is not an insurance policy.
• The handling of claims by the Greed Card office in the destination country is limited to claims under compulsory vehicle insurance and third party claims in respect to property damage and does not include the handling of additional coverage, even if they were purchased in the framework of the policies, such as compulsory insurance for the driver or property damage insurance for the driver.
• A condition for the issuing of a Green Card certificate in the Country of Origin is the purchase of a vehicle insurance policy (in the Country of Origin), that covers both compulsory vehicle insurance and legal third party liability insurance in respect of property damage, at the very least.

The sums of damages paid in the event of an accident do not exceed the bounds of liability specified in the policy and vary from one country to another, for both bodily injury and property damage.

The bounds of liability for bodily injury range from €100,000 per accident and an unlimited sum of damages.  The bounds of liability for property claims range from €10,000 per accident and an unlimited sum of damages.

In order for the policy to be in effect abroad (in the destination country), the policyholder must obtain the Green Card certificate in the Country of Origin (in addition to the policy that was issued by the insurance company).In Israelthe Green Card certificate can be purchased at the Green Card offices for NIS50.It is not possible to purchase the certificate without purchasing insurance.

To arrange for the receipt of the Green Card certificate, please call 03-9424311.

Israelhas signed mutual agreements with 39 countries in Europethat are members of the Green Card system.In 2007, agreements will apparently be signed with Russiaand with Lithuaniaas well.

The countries with which Israelhas signed mutual agreements are: