After over 10 years of debate and two unsuccessful attempts, the "bonus-malus" system for the mandatory "Civil Liability" insurance for motorists comes into force, the FSC reports.
Today, 25.08.2026, the relevant amendments and supplements to Regulation No. 49 of 16.10.2014 on the mandatory "Civil Liability" insurance have been promulgated and come into force. of motorists and in Regulation No. 54 of 30.12.2016 on the registers of the Guarantee Fund, adopted by the Financial Supervision Commission, the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Minister of Transport and Communications.
This is the decisive step before the launch of the “bonus-malus“ system in motor insurance, and insurance companies are obliged to redesign their information systems so as to implement it effectively.
Real assessment of the damages caused for the last 5 years
The “bonus-malus“ system is based on the history of the damages caused by each motorist for the last 5 years. Their history will be certified centrally by the Guarantee Fund, regardless of which insurance company the respective motorist was insured with.
The goal is for insurers to receive complete and accurate information, certified by the Guarantee Fund, with which to adequately assess the risk taken under the insurance of "Civil Liability" of motorists in each specific case.
This will allow fair insurance premiums to be determined, as motorists with a clean claim history will be able to receive a lower premium than those with a bad claim history. The policy for assessing the history of insurance claims is an element of the risk management system of each individual insurer. Each of them is obliged to publish the policy on its website.
Real reporting of all filed insurance claims
In order for the “bonus-malus“ system to function properly, insurers will now be obliged to enter in real time all insurance claims filed with them in the Guarantee Fund register, similar to the entry of insurance policies. This must happen simultaneously with the registration of the claim in the insurer's information system.
The regulatory framework regulates the right of automatic access of insurers to the register of insurance claims in the Information Center of the Guarantee Fund. It is also envisaged to prohibit the requirement of paper certificates, as long as insurers will have electronic and free official access to all necessary information on the history of damages in each specific case.
The Guarantee Fund will provide insurers with an internal electronic administrative service for extracting data from the register of submitted and paid insurance claims. The request contains the vehicle owner identifier and the vehicle identification number (VIN) / frame number and registration number of the vehicle. The insurance policy number is extracted from these data, on the basis of which the data from the register of submitted and paid insurance claims is extracted. The result of the request includes the data that is included in the insurance claim certificate for the last 5 years, including data on the amount of insurance claims submitted and paid.
Real assessment of the actual user of the vehicle
In order to avoid the “erasure“ of the claims history by formally transferring ownership of the vehicle (for example, between related parties or when leasing a car), special requirements are provided. The Guarantee Fund will provide information on the damage, including in cases of change of ownership of the vehicle, if before that the insurer was the owner, user under a coupon, acquirer or usual driver who had concluded a previous contract for the same vehicle. In this way, the damage history will follow the actual user of the vehicle.
Digitization of insurance claim certificates
Another important amendment is that any driver, insurer or owner of a vehicle may request the issuance of an insurance claims certificate. It is intended to be issued centrally, through the Guarantee Fund system according to the template under Regulation (EU) 2024/1855 of the European Commission. The certificate is also intended to contain additional information: on the location of the traffic accident; on the type of damage caused (property or non-property); data on claims submitted to the Guarantee Fund for damages caused when using the vehicle when it was uninsured; data on the cause of the traffic accident, including when it was caused when using an uninsured vehicle; as well as data on the owner(s), user and usual driver of the vehicle.
The method of submitting the application has been regulated – to the address of the Guarantee Fund; through the system for secure electronic delivery, signed with a QES or a PIN of the NRA, on the website of the Guarantee Fund, signed with a QES or in an office of the insurer, including an insurance agent, on paper.
In order to ensure the possibility of checking the certificate, a requirement is provided for the Guarantee Fund to include a unique machine-readable code (QR code), which allows access to the certificate on the website of the Guarantee Fund, where an archive of the issued certificates is stored for a period of one year.
Access of insurers to the register of road accidents
To counteract insurance fraud, every insurer offering compulsory motor third party liability insurance and comprehensive insurance of a vehicle in the Republic of Bulgaria, receives the right to access data from the register of the Guarantee Fund for road accidents that occurred on the territory of the country and for the participants in them. This data includes information about the causer, data on co-inflict, details of the driving license and photos, when available.
In addition, companies will have access to the following data from the register of filed and paid claims: date and place of the insured event; country of the insured event; type of event; type of damage; damaged object; injured person; insurer; data on claims filed by an insurer under "Casco" insurance of a vehicle, for which a flag for recourse has been set. In view of the protection of personal data, access will be permitted only upon specific request, in connection with an already filed claim. Data on new claims will be updated in real time in the Guarantee Fund register.
Free access to the public registers of the Guarantee Fund
Free and free public access is provided to the following registers of the Guarantee Fund: register of insurers offering “Civil Liability“ insurance for motorists; register of representatives for settling claims; register of carriers providing public passenger transport in the Republic of Bulgaria; register of insurers offering compulsory “Accident” insurance for passengers in the Republic of Bulgaria.
Guarantees for continuity of the issuance of insurance policies
An alternative mechanism for issuing insurance policies under compulsory “Civil Liability” insurance is also provided. of motorists in the event of an objective impossibility (for example, in the event of a technical failure) of the Guarantee Fund. In this case, the FSC will be able to order insurers to temporarily generate policies and price offers based on the information in their own systems. This ensures that the process of concluding insurance will not be blocked due to an objective impossibility of the Guarantee Fund's systems.
The amendments and additions to the aforementioned regulations that have entered into force complete the overall regulatory framework for motor insurance in accordance with the latest amendments to the Motor Directive and create conditions for a fairer determination of insurance premiums for motorists' “Civil Liability“ insurance, while ensuring both the financial stability of insurers and the rights of users of insurance services.