Car insurance: anyone who does this will pay a €7,500 fine

Trying to save money, some people choose not to insure their vehicle, a decision that can have serious consequences. We provide detailed information on this topic.

In France, insuring a vehicle is OBLIGATORY. According to 2020 figures from the National Interministerial Road Safety Observatory (ONISR), 800,000 people drive without insurance in France.

List of vehicles requiring insurance

THE cars (private, utility or without a license), tractors and agricultural machinery
THE two or three wheels (motorcycles, scooters) and quads, even not approved (for example, mini-motorcycles)
THE riding lawn mowers equipped with a seat that allows the driver to maneuver.
THE electric bikes (VAE) whose power exceeds 250w or whose speed exceeds 25 km/h. If you have to take out this category, know that it is the same insurance as for motorcycles.
THE motorized personal transportation devices (EDP), electric scooters, monowheels, gyropods, hoverboards.

Obviously, if insurance is not present on the vehicle or if you have not insured said vehicle, you expose yourself to a heavy fine.

Sanctions concerning vehicle insurance

Please note that the range of sanctions is quite large depending on the offense and its consequences.

First of all, be aware that you are exposed to a fine of 35 € if you are unable to present your insurance certificate to the police during a roadside check. This fine can be reduced to €22 or increased to €75.

In the event that you simply have not insured your vehicle, the penalties are much heavier! Please note that not insuring a vehicle is an offense which is punishable by a fine of up to 3 750 €. That’s not all since you also risk one of the following additional penalties:

Community service sentence
License suspension for a period of 3 years or more
Ban on driving certain vehicles for a maximum of 5 years.
Obligation to complete a road safety awareness course
Confiscation of the vehicle if you are the owner

Alongside all this, the law n°2016-1547 of November 18, 2016 provides that driving without insurance can be punished with a “simple” fine. The latter can be issued in the event of a first observation of the offense in a driver. The amount of the fixed fine is 500 € but it can be reduced to 400 € in the event of payment within 15 days or increased to 1 000 € at the end of 45 days.

Finally, if you have not learned your lesson and you are checked again even though you have not insured your car, the penalty is steep. The latter can go up to 7 500 € and may once again be accompanied by one of the additional penalties previously mentioned.