Van insurance in Europe: green cards and cover abroad

Last checked November 2026.

There is a lot to consider when you compare van insurance online, including the cover available and the premiums you’ll have to pay. However, one vital feature that van drivers often overlook is whether or not their insurance will cover them abroad.

Van insurance considerations

Before you drive overseas, make sure you have suitable cover at home. Third party insurance has been a legal requirement in Britain since the Road Traffic Act 1930, and broadly there are three levels of cover:

Third party only: the legal minimum. It covers injury you cause to other people, including your passengers, and damage you cause to their vehicles and property, but not damage to your own van.
Third party, fire and theft: everything in third party only, plus cover if your own van is stolen or damaged by fire.
Comprehensive: third party, fire and theft, plus damage to your own van in an accident, subject to exclusions. Policies vary, but may include windscreen cover and your personal belongings.

What your UK insurance covers abroad

By law, every UK motor policy must cover your liability to other people when you drive in any EU country, to that country’s legal minimum or to the UK’s if that is higher. gov.uk says all UK vehicle insurance gives the minimum third party cover to drive in:

the EU, including Ireland
Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Serbia and Switzerland

The EU’s minimum, set when its Motor Insurance Directive was updated in 2021, is €6,450,000 per accident for injuries (or €1,300,000 for each injured person) and €1,300,000 per accident for damage to property. Countries can require more, and the amounts are reviewed every five years in line with inflation. UK law has no upper limit for injuries and requires at least £1,200,000 for damage to property, and a UK policy must give you whichever is higher.

That minimum is third party cover only. Whether you’re also covered abroad for theft of or damage to your own van depends on your policy. The Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) says some policies keep the same level of protection abroad as at home, but if yours only gives third party cover and you have an accident, you won’t be able to claim to repair your own van. So check before you go, and pay for extra cover if you need it.

Do you need a green card?

A green card is an international certificate showing that you have the minimum insurance the country you’re visiting requires. It’s part of the Green Card system, which covers about 50 countries and makes sure people hurt in accidents caused by foreign vehicles are compensated.

You don’t need a green card to drive in the EU (including Ireland), Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia or Switzerland. You still need valid insurance, so take your insurance certificate and your log book (V5C) with you.

The MIB says you need one for Albania, Azerbaijan, Moldova, North Macedonia, Tunisia, Turkey and Ukraine, and gov.uk says you need one for Morocco and may need one for Israel. Check before you drive anywhere else outside the list above. If you need a green card:

Ask your insurer for one well before you go. gov.uk says to allow up to 6 weeks if it’s posted, and the MIB suggests giving your insurer 6 weeks’ notice. Since 1 January 2025 every country in the system accepts a digital green card on your phone, but the MIB recommends carrying a printed copy as well.
You need a separate green card for a trailer or caravan you’re towing.
You must show it if you have an accident, and you may have to show it at the border or if the police stop you. Arrive at the border without one and you may be refused entry, or have to buy frontier insurance there, which can cost more.
If your insurer won’t cover a country, you’ll need a temporary policy from another insurer for the time you’re there, alongside your UK one.

For countries outside the Green Card system, such as Algeria and Egypt, and those suspended from it, you have to buy local frontier insurance at the border, and any accident is dealt with by that insurer.

In Turkey you must carry a green card to show you have third party insurance, as well as the 1968 international driving permit or a UK licence notarised in Turkish. In Morocco you need a green card and the 1968 permit, you must show proof of insurance when you enter and leave, and your registration is recorded at the border, so leave in the same vehicle you arrived in.

How long does the cover last?

Policies set their own limits on where and for how long your full cover applies abroad, and they vary a lot. Two motorhome policies, from 2024 and 2026, for example:

one, from a large insurer, extended full cover to the EU and the other countries where a green card isn’t needed for up to 270 days in each year of cover, and asked for at least three weeks’ notice before a trip anywhere else;
the other gave full cover in a list of countries with no set number of days, as long as the visits weren’t “of a permanent nature”, and sold cover for touring or living in the van for 9 months or more as an extra. It gave no cover at all outside its list.

Should you spend longer abroad than your policy allows, your cover may drop to the legal minimum, or stop. So read the terms and conditions of your policy before you travel. If you’re unsure, contact the insurer and ask:

Do I have cover to drive my van abroad, and will it be the same as at home? If not, what are the limits? For example, you may have breakdown cover at home but not in Europe.
Which countries does it include, and do I need a green card for any of them?
How many days am I allowed abroad, both over the year and on a single trip?

Long stays

Check that your van insurance covers every country on your route and the whole length of your stay. gov.uk says a UK motor insurance certificate is generally only valid for a stay of less than 3 months in Spain, and you can bring your own vehicle into Portugal for up to 183 days in any 12 months. Many travel insurance policies have a maximum trip length, or a limit on the total time you can spend outside the UK each year, so a long winter may need a long-stay policy. A GHIC or EHIC gets you state healthcare in the EU, but it isn’t a substitute for travel insurance. Check your breakdown cover the same way: every country, and the full length of the trip.

UK law still applies to your van while it’s abroad for less than 12 months, so it must stay taxed, have a current MOT and be insured in the UK. Taking it abroad for 12 months or more counts as permanent export, and you have to tell DVLA. UK visitors can also only stay 90 days in any 180 in the Schengen area. See winter in Europe and living full time in Europe.

If you have an accident abroad

Make the scene safe, put on your high-visibility vest and call 112 if anyone is hurt.
Get the other driver’s name and address, their vehicle’s registration, make and model, and their insurance or green card details. Take photos of both vehicles and the scene, and get the contact details of any witnesses.
Either you or the other driver should report the accident to the police; a copy of the police report can help your claim. In some countries the police must always be called, and you should call them if the other driver won’t cooperate or drives off.
Contact your insurer as soon as you can.

The European Accident Statement

In much of Europe drivers fill in a standard accident form together: the European Accident Statement, called the constat amiable in France. The form is standardised, so each driver can fill it in in their own language. There’s a copy for each driver’s insurer: both copies must say the same, and both drivers sign. Count the boxes you’ve ticked to describe the accident and write the number in, so nothing can be added later, and put anything you disagree with in the remarks. Only sign if you fully understand what it says and agree with it: the MIB says you don’t have to sign, even if the other driver wants you to. If you haven’t got the form, write down the other driver’s details, registration and green card number and what happened, in two copies signed by you both. In Morocco, gov.uk says blank forms are available from the insurance company booths in Tangier port and from tobacconists.

On French motorways

If you break down or have an accident on a French motorway, use the orange emergency phones, which are about every 2 km, or call 112. Only an authorised breakdown service can help you on the motorway, at regulated rates, so keep the bill for your breakdown or insurance claim. See driving in France.

If you can’t trace the other driver’s insurer

The MIB runs the UK’s Green Card Bureau and the UK Information Centre for the government. If you can’t get the other driver’s details after an accident abroad, or they’ve left the scene, the UK Information Centre may be able to help you find the foreign vehicle’s insurer: email [email protected]. Your own insurer may also have a representative in the country where the accident happened.

Hired vans and campervans

If you hire or lease a van or campervan in the UK and take it abroad, you need a VE103 vehicle on hire certificate to show you’re allowed to use it. Ask the hire company about it, and check that its insurance covers every country you’re going to and the whole trip.

If you hire a vehicle abroad, insurance is included, but check what you’re covered for, including how much you’d have to pay towards any damage. The Green Card system doesn’t apply to vehicles hired locally. Hire companies set their own rules, such as a minimum age, a year’s driving experience or an international driving permit, and some won’t let their vehicles go to certain countries: gov.uk says many Serbian hire firms won’t allow their cars into Kosovo, Albania or Bulgaria. The hire company may ask to see your driving licence record, which you can share with a DVLA check code up to 21 days before you travel. If you have an accident in a hired vehicle, call the police and the hire company. See camper van hire.

Where can you get suitable van insurance for overseas driving?

Use a comparison website to compare van insurance quotes and features from a range of providers; there’s one on our campervan insurance page. When getting a quote, compare the price with and without cover abroad, to see how much extra you’re paying for it, and compare what each insurer gives you abroad.

Finally, do your best to avoid van insurance claims abroad. Of course, this means driving safely as you would at home, but the rules are different in other countries. In France, for example, the drink-driving limit is a third lower than in England and Wales. See driving in Europe, driving in France, driving in Spain and driving in Portugal.

More on Europe

Sources: gov.uk (vehicle insurance when driving abroad, driving abroad, taking a vehicle out of the UK, foreign travel insurance, and travel advice for France, Morocco, Portugal, Serbia, Spain and Turkey); Motor Insurers’ Bureau (driving abroad, digital green cards and its role as the UK Green Card Bureau and UK Information Centre); Road Traffic Act 1930, section 35, and Road Traffic Act 1988, section 145; EU Motor Insurance Directive 2009/103/EC as amended by Directive (EU) 2021/2118; European Consumer Centre France; UK motorhome policy wordings (2024 and 2026); checked November 2026. Know of a change? Tell us in the comments below.