If I have an accident with a foreign car, who do I claim against?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

If the accident happens in Spain, you claim against the foreign insurer through its representative or correspondent in Spain, whom you can find using the search tool of OFESAUTO, the Spanish office of foreign motor insurers. If the representative does not reply within three months or does not explain its reply, send the claim to OFESAUTO. If the accident happened in another European Union country, you can make your claim from Spain to the representative that the other driver's insurer has here. The “Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros”, Spain's state insurance compensation fund, will tell you who that is. If the accident happens in Spain Note down the registration number and the country, the insurer and the number of the green card or insurance certificate. Look up that insurer's representative in Spain on the OFESAUTO website or report the claim on its form. Spanish law and its statutory compensation scale (the “baremo”) apply. If the representative does not reply within three months or does not explain its reply, send the claim to OFESAUTO. You have one year to claim, in Catalonia too. A written claim interrupts the time limit. If the accident happens in another European Union country Make your claim to the other vehicle's insurer or to its representative in Spain. If neither gives you a reasoned reply within three months, or the insurer has no representative in Spain, you can make a claim to OFESAUTO, which has two months to reply. If the vehicle is not identified, or after two months it is not known who its insurer was, you can also make a claim to OFESAUTO. The law of the country where the accident happened applies, also to the time limits for claiming, which may be different from the Spanish ones. You will normally be able to sue the foreign insurer in Spain. No insurance If the accident happens in Spain and the foreign vehicle had no insurance, the Consorcio pays when the vehicle is from a country outside the European Economic Area that has not signed the agreement between the national insurers' bureaux, even if that country is part of the green card system. In other cases, ask OFESAUTO or the Consorcio who deals with it.