Don’t want a crushed car? Get yourself a Green Card

MOTORISTS travelling to the North risk having their car impounded and possibly even crushed if they do not display a ‘Green Card’ after March 29 in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

If the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal, insurance policies registered to Irish vehicles will no longer be automatically recognised by British authorities.

The Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) will have issued 800,000 Green Cards to brokers across the country by next week, and has urged anyone planning on travelling over the border after March to ensure they are covered.

A Green Card is an internationally recognised insurance document which provides proof of the minimum compulsory motor insurance cover required by the country visited. It is a hard copy document which is printed on green paper or with a green background.

‘Our understanding from the UK authorities is that you are at risk of being treated as an uninsured driver if you don’t have proof, because they’ll no longer recognise your Irish licence plate as being valid,’ MIBI Chief Executive David Fitzgerald said.

‘The difficulty then is they’re quite draconian in the UK in terms of their provisions. So what they do is they seize your vehicle at the side of the road if you can’t establish you’re insured.

‘They leave you there and they transport your vehicle to a depot. Until you’ve regularised the position and paid any fines and charges, they hang on to your vehicle.’

Figures from the UK Motor Insurance Bureau show that 40% of vehicles impounded in the UK end up being crushed. This has caused a lot of anxiety among Irish insurance companies, Mr Fitzgerald told RTÉ’s Seán O’Rourke.

Those in need of a Green Card can get them from their insurance provider or broker, but MIBI say it won’t be necessary to do so until March 1, as they typically take a month to process. However, if a no-deal Brexit has been taken off the table by that point, the cards will be unnecessary. Mr Fitzgerald said it was likely that people living in border areas would be contacted directly by their insurers, but urged them to make inquiries of their own if they haven’t heard by March 1.

The same rules will apply to motorists from Northern Ireland travelling into the Republic.

Mr Fitzgerald also said that some insurance companies may charge an admin fee, which in the UK typically comes to £20 (€22.60). Green Cards will be issued for a minimum of 15 days and will last for the duration of the policy.