european-union vehicle
Are insurers in EU member states required to issue vehicle insurance?
<p>I am trying to find out if the owner of a vehicle does not only have the obligation but also the right to vehicle insurance and if such a right is implied or guaranteed by EU directives.</p>

<p><a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32009L0103" rel="nofollow noreferrer">DIRECTIVE 2009/103/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL</a> states that:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>(3) Each Member State must take all appropriate measures to
  ensure that civil liability in respect of the use of vehicles
  normally based in its territory is covered by insurance.
  The extent of the liability covered and the terms and
  conditions of the insurance cover are to be determined
  on the basis of those measures.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Should the phrase "all appropriate measures" in this section be interpreted as an obligation for member states to ensure that citizens have access to vehicle insurance?</p>

<p>The summary of the directive further states:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>[The Directive] requires all motor vehicles in the EU to be covered by
  compulsory third-party liability insurance</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I did not look into legislation of other member states but in the case of <a href="http://www.justiceservices.gov.mt/DownloadDocument.aspx?app=lom&amp;itemid=8644&amp;l=1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Malta</a>, I wasn't able to find anything that suggests such a right.</p>

<h2>No</h2>

<p>First, in general, insurers can choose to operate in a given market or not. AFAIK there is no regulation that forces a general insurer to offer any particular kind of cover if they don’t want to. In theory, a government could require insurers to offer certain types of policies as a condition of operating but most insurers are multi-national and they could just choose to exit the country completely - there are plenty of examples of insurance companies doing this, even if <em>all</em> providers in a given market exiting due to unprofitably.</p>

<p>The directive requires third-party personal injury insurance to be compulsory so I suppose that may require government intervention if there is market failure for that insurance.</p>

<p>As to a <em>right</em> - there is no right to own a vehicle so, in the absence of that, you wouldn’t need a right to insure one.</p>
