How long may a car remain uninsured?
There is no permitted period during which a car with a registration number may stand uninsured. The obligation attaches to the registration, not to being driven.
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In brief
The answer is nought days. Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) provides that a motor vehicle with a Dutch registration must have liability insurance as long as that registration is in your name and the vehicle's registration has not been suspended. Whether you drive it is irrelevant. A car that stands in a shed all year but is registered in your name has to be insured.
The RDW compares the vehicle register with the insurance records periodically. If a vehicle without cover appears among them, a register penaltyfollows: a fine on the basis of the registration itself, with no police officer involved. If the situation continues, further penalties follow and ultimately measures against the registration. That fine is a punishment and is therefore covered on no insurance.
There are three legitimate ways in which the obligation ends: having the vehicle's registration suspend the registration with the RDW, transferring it to someone else with an indemnity certificate, or having it dismantled or exported. All three work through the register. Simply cancelling the insurance does not work, because the registration then remains and precisely the gap the checks are aimed at arises.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare car insurance.
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What to look out for
Four situations in which people think the obligation has lapsed, when it has not.
Suspension: what it does and does not arrange
A suspension puts the insurance obligation, the road tax and the MOT obligation on hold. The condition is that the vehicle stands on your own property and not on the public road, not even parked. A suspension applies for a fixed period and has to be renewed afterwards. If it expires without renewal, the insurance obligation revives immediately.
Sold, but still in your name
Without certificate of indemnity you remain the registered keeper and therefore subject to the insurance obligation, even where the buyer has already collected the car. If the new owner causes damage, the claim initially lands with you and your insurer. So only cancel the policy after the registration in your name has actually ended.
Waiting for a new policy
There may not be a single day between the cancellation of the old insurance and the start of the new one. Make sure the new policy starts on the day the old one ends. In a claim in that gap you are the liable party yourself and the Waarborgfonds Motorverkeer recovers from you what it has paid the victim.
Standing idle does not mean claim-free
A suspended car can still catch fire, be flooded or be stolen. The suspension only ends the third-party liability obligation. If you want to keep the vehicle itself protected, let the third-party, fire and theft cover continue. Insurers often offer an adjusted rate for that as long as it is not driven.
What does your premium depend on?
- Length of the break: a gap in cover affects underwriting
- Reason for the break: a restoration or a long stay abroad counts differently
- Where it is kept while idle: a locked garage or open ground
- Cover chosen during suspension: fire and theft only or full third-party, fire and theft
- Validity of your no-claims statement: no-claims years expire after a time
- Age and value of the vehicle: decisive for what own-damage cover produces
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered while standing idle
| Situation | Registration suspended | The policy continues |
|---|---|---|
| The car burns out while it stands in your locked garage | Provided that | Yes |
| The car is stolen from your own drive | Provided that | Yes |
| A storm drops a branch on the roof of the car | Provided that | Yes |
| You drive the car to the garage once for the MOT | No | Yes |
| Your son leaves the car on the public road for a night | No | Yes |
| The RDW imposes a register penalty because the registration stood uninsured in your name | No | No |
Put the end date of the suspension and the start date of the new policy in the same diary entry.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
May a car with a suspended registration be parked on the street?
No. A suspension is only permitted where the vehicle stands on your own property, such as a drive, garage or locked storage space. If a suspended vehicle stands on the public road, that is an offence, even if it is not driven. There is also no third-party liability cover, so damage the vehicle causes falls entirely to you.
What is not covered during a suspension?
All damage connected with driving, because the third-party liability cover has ended. Own damage is also uninsured once you have cancelled that cover, so fire, storm and theft are then at your own expense. The register penalty itself is never insured, because it is a fine and not compensation to someone else.
I have just bought the car. From when does it have to be insured?
From the moment it is registered in your name. As soon as the registration is in your name, the obligation under Article 2 WAM applies. So arrange the insurance before or at the same time as the transfer and not afterwards. Separate rules apply to a car on a foreign registration. Those are set out at insuring a car with a foreign registration number.
Do I lose my no-claims years if the car stands idle for a long time?
No-claims years built up remain valid for a number of years after a policy ends. That period differs per insurer and is set out in the no-claims statement. If the break lasts longer, they can lapse. You can read more about that at how long you keep your no-claims years.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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