· Car
Spanish motor liability now covers up to 70 million — and what happens if your insurer fails
The reform of Spain's compulsory motor insurance is in force and almost nobody noticed. It does not change your premium, but it does change what you can demand when something happens. Four points we think matter.
Higher minimum cover
Compulsory insurance now covers at least 70 million euros per claim for personal injury and 15 million for property damage. These are legal minimums; no policy may fall below them. It matters in serious accidents with several injured people, which is exactly where the old limits were being reached.
The insurer has deadlines, and they are now in writing
After an accident involving personal injury, the company has three months to make a reasoned offer of compensation or to refuse with reasons. If you accept the offer, payment follows within five days. And the claims history certificate you are asked for when switching company must be issued within fifteen days.
If your foreign insurer goes bust
This is the point that affects us most here. Anyone living in Spain whose car is insured with a company from another EU country used to be unprotected if that company became insolvent. Now the Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros steps in for the injured party resident in Spain and afterwards recovers the money from the country of origin.
Compensation now tracks inflation
The personal injury scale will be updated using the consumer price index. On top of that, loss of earnings may not be calculated below the statutory minimum wage. For people without a payslip or on a low income that changes the result considerably.
What this means for you
- If your policy is with us, there is nothing to do: the minimum sums are already included.
- If you have been waiting more than three months for an offer after an accident with injuries, the law is on your side. Tell us.
- If you insure the car abroad because it is cheaper, an insolvency no longer leaves you with nothing — but you will have to run the process yourself, from here and in Spanish.
- The claims history certificate arrives within fifteen days of asking. You do not have to wait for renewal.
Source: BOE · Ley 5/2025, de 24 de julio (öffnet in einem neuen Fenster) · 18 September 2026
Information without obligation. The policy and the Allianz information sheets are binding.