FIVA (the Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens) welcomes the decision by the European Parliament’s Internal Market Committee on motor insurance taken on 22 January 2019, as it will help to preserve our motoring heritage.
The MEPs were voting on a proposal from the European Commission to change civil liability (third-party) motor insurance laws. Had the European Commission’s proposals gone ahead, owners would have been required to take out third-party insurance even when a vehicle is not being used on the road.
“If historic vehicles in museums, under long-term restoration, or simply not being used for a period of time were required to have third-party insurance, the effect on our motoring heritage would have been extremely damaging, to say the least,†says FIVA President, Patrick Rollet. “We are delighted that the members of the European Parliament Committee recognised that such insurance would be costly and unnecessary for historic vehicle owners, and we applaud their decision to vote against it.
“Moreover, we fully support the MEPs’ decision to reject the European Commission’s proposal that civil liability insurance becomes a requirement for vehicles used in motorsport. Fortunately, the MEPs rightly recognised that such a step would have made motorsport economically unviable to the vast majority of participants, as the premiums would be prohibitively expensive for competitors – including historic vehicle motorsport competitors – whose events are in any case protected by other liability insurance.â€
Patrick Rollet concluded by stating that he hoped Member States would support these positive decisions in forthcoming negotiations, to help preserve our motoring heritage.
