Bilateral Agreements

Country map: protection of visitors for Swiss victims abroad and foreign victims in Switzerland
Protection of Visitors for Swiss injured parties abroad and for foreign injured parties in Switzerland

Switzerland does not fall within the scope of Directive 2000/26/EC. In order to enable road accident victims to benefit from the most important provisions for the protection of visitors, the NBI concluded bilateral agreements under private law with all the competent institutions of the EEA member states based on the competence to which it is entitled under Art. 76b para. 5 lit. b SVG.

The agreements are based on the provisions of Directive 2000/26/EC. Agreements with exchange of information (map above: states coloured light blue) provide that the information centres of the contracting states provide the persons concerned with the necessary information to enable them to assert their claims. Agreements with claims settlement in the state of residence (map above: states coloured dark blue) also require the appointment of claims representatives in the other contracting state to receive claims from injured parties. However, access to compensation bodies is expressly excluded in all bilateral agreements on the protection of visitors.

Agreements on the Protection of Visitors

with exchange of information

The visitor protection agreements with exchange of information provide that injured parties after traffic accidents receive assistance from the information centres in identifying the competent motor vehicle liability insurers and further information. The aim is to ensure that claims are settled in favour of the injured party as quickly and easily as possible. The procedure is initiated by an injured party's request for information to the insurance bureau of his place of residence. On receipt of the request, the insurance bureau shall contact either the insurance bureau on whose territory the vehicle causing the accident was registered or the insurance bureau on whose territory the accident took place, in order to obtain the following information for the attention of the injured party:

  • Identification of the liability insurer of the vehicle involved in the accident
  • Identification of the driver, owner or keeper of the vehicle involved in the accident, if the insurer cannot be identified within 6 weeks after the accident

    and in addition, depending on the agreement:
     
  • Police report
  • Information on any payments from a guarantee fund or other information that may be useful for the settlement of claims

The NBI has concluded agreements on the protection of visitors with exchange of information with the insurance bureaux of the following states:

In force since:

09.05.2014
Morroco, Turkey, Ukraine

01.01.2016
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Tunisia, Belarus

01.07.2016
Andorra

with exchange of information and claims handling in the state of residence

If the insurance bureaux of two states have signed an agreement on the protection of visitors with claims handling in the state of residence, the insurance companies of these states are entitled to appoint claims representatives in the other state. These claims representatives shall be in charge to settle claims of injured parties under the following conditions:

  • The injured party shall be resident in the same state as the claims representative.
     
  • The accident took place either in the state in which the competent insurer is established or in another state of the Green Card system if that state is not also the state of residence of the injured party.

Claims will be settled in accordance with the applicable law. Unconditional acknowledgements or final settlements require the consent of the competent insurer. The insurer may at any time withdraw the claim from the claims representative appointed by it. However, he may not abuse this right to reduce the justified claims of the injured party. Where no claims representative has been appointed, this role may be performed by the insurance bureau of the injured party's state of residence, with the agreement of the competent insurer. The insurer may also withdraw the claim from the insurance bureau at any time. The agreements do not provide for sanctions to be imposed on the insurer or the claims representative if the injured party has not been given a reasoned reply to a claim made. The agreements also do not provide for the payment of interest on arrears or possibilities for withdrawal in the event of negligence. They do, however, introduce an obligation for insurance bureaux to notify each other in cases where claims are not settled properly.

The NBI has concluded agreements on the protection of visitors with claims handling in the state of residence with the insurance bureaux of the following states:

In force since:

01.10.2003
Austria, Germany

01.01.2004
Belgium, Spain, Netherlands

01.05.2004
Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia

15.10.2004
Greece

01.01.2005
France

01.01.2006
Great Britain

30.03.2007
Malta

17.08.2007
Rumania

25.09.2007
Cyprus

01.01.2010
Italy

01.09.2016
Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Slovenia