Lack of third party liability insurance for more than 14 days for a heavy goods vehicle is a fine of PLN 12,900.

In accordance with Article 29.1.1. of the Compulsory Insurance Act, the Insurance Guarantee Fund and the Polish Motor Insurers' Bureau: "The vehicle owner is obliged to conclude a third party liability insurance contract for motor vehicle owners: no later than on the date of registration of the motor vehicle ... but no later than upon introduction of the vehicle into service"

According to art. 74 sec. 2 item 1 and sec. 3 of the Road Traffic Act: "Temporary registration shall be carried out for a period not exceeding 30 days... After the expiry of the temporary registration period, the registration plates shall be returned to the body that issued them..."

According to the judgment of 18 January 2024 (II GSK 925/23), of the Supreme Administrative Court, "a temporary permit cannot be identified with a registration certificate, although both are documents authorizing the vehicle to be driven. A temporary permit is issued ex officio by the authority after submitting an application for vehicle registration and is valid for no longer than 30 days (art. 74 sec. 2 item 1 and sec. 3 of the Road Traffic Act). On the other hand, the registration certificate fulfills a two-fold role. It confirms the issuance of a decision on vehicle registration and is a document confirming the admission of the registered vehicle to be driven... temporary vehicle registration cannot be identified with vehicle registration, referred to in art. 72 of the Road Traffic Act, and thus the discontinuation of the proceedings for registration of a vehicle for which a temporary permit was previously issued means that the vehicle is not a registered vehicle.

Therefore, if after the temporary registration expired – until the permanent registration – the vehicle was not put into service, its owner was not obliged to have compulsory third party liability insurance and, consequently, the decision to impose a penalty by the UFG should be appealed.   

Legal adviser Jerzy Klimkowski