At-Fault Driver With No Insurance in Poland? How the Guarantee Fund (UFG) Pays Out

This guide is general legal information, not legal advice. How the rules apply depends on your individual circumstances, and the matter should be assessed by a qualified Polish lawyer. Twoja Sprawa helps you organise the documents for that assessment.

Were you in an accident in Poland with a driver who had no third-party liability cover (OC — ubezpieczenie odpowiedzialności cywilnej, the compulsory motor insurance every registered vehicle must carry)? That's a serious problem for the at-fault driver — both criminally and financially — but it doesn't have to leave you out of pocket. The Ubezpieczeniowy Fundusz Gwarancyjny (UFG), Poland's Insurance Guarantee Fund, steps in and pays what the at-fault driver's insurer should have paid. In other words, if the other driver's car is registered but uninsured, the UFG compensates you for damage to your vehicle, your injuries and your other losses — exactly as if the at-fault driver had been properly insured. Below we explain what the UFG covers, how the claim procedure works, and the time limit for making a claim.

When the UFG pays out — what counts as "no insurance"

The UFG is liable when the at-fault driver's vehicle is registered in Poland (or in another EU/EEA country) but lacks the compulsory OC policy. Typical scenarios include:

• the vehicle is registered but the OC policy has lapsed (e.g. it was never renewed),
• the vehicle is insured, but under someone else's name, and the driver at the wheel had no right to drive it,
• the vehicle is registered but has never carried an OC policy at all (an uninsured "phantom" vehicle),
• the OC policy was voided by the insurer because of fraud on the driver's part.

⚠️ The UFG will not pay out if the at-fault driver turns out to be from a country outside the EU/EEA and the vehicle is registered there. In that situation you'll need to pursue your claim by another route — usually a harder and slower one.

What the UFG covers — the full list of claims

Where the at-fault driver had no OC cover, the UFG will cover:

1. Damage to property (your vehicle): - the full cost of repairing your car (or its total value if it's a write-off), - the cost of towing your car to a garage, - lost earnings if the car was used for work and you were left without it.

2. Personal injury: - treatment and rehabilitation costs, - travel costs to medical appointments and treatment centres, - lost earnings for the period you were unfit for work, - an ongoing pension-style payment (renta) if the accident left you permanently unable to work, - compensation for pain, suffering and permanent injury (zadośćuczynienie) under Article 445 of the Polish Civil Code (Kodeks cywilny, KC).

3. Other costs: - costs of clearing up the damaged vehicle, - in some cases, the cost of a carer for a person left disabled by the accident.

UFG payout limits: - PLN 2 million for personal injury (per person), - PLN 500,000 for property damage (per vehicle).

In practice this means almost every accident is covered in full — the limits are generous.

UFG versus a normal OC policy — what actually changes

In practice the procedure and timescale are similar — the difference is that a public fund handles your claim instead of a private insurer.

How to claim from the UFG — step by step

The process is similar to notifying a normal insurer, except everything goes to the UFG rather than to an insurance company.

Documents to prepare:

1. A police report — it must confirm that the at-fault driver had no OC cover (the police check this against the central register),
2. Proof the at-fault driver had no OC — this can be the police report itself, or you can ask the UFG to check its own central register of insured vehicles,
3. A copy of your vehicle registration document,
4. A copy of your own OC policy — this shows you were insured, even though the other driver wasn't,
5. Photos of the vehicle damage — from several angles,
6. A repair estimate — from a garage or a motor engineer,
7. Medical records — if you were injured (referral letters, test results, discharge summaries),
8. Proof of expenses — receipts for treatment, transport costs, and so on.

Where to send the claim:

Ubezpieczeniowy Fundusz Gwarancyjny ul. Chłodna 23 00-891 Warszawa, Poland

Email: [check current details on ufg.pl] Phone: [check current details on ufg.pl]

Send your claim by registered post with proof of delivery, or through the UFG's online portal, if available.

The claim form:

You can use the UFG's standard claim form (available on ufg.pl) or write a letter that includes:

• your details,
• your vehicle's details,
• a description of the accident,
• the police reference number,
• the at-fault vehicle's registration number (if you have it),
• an itemised breakdown of your claim (vehicle repair, medical costs, and so on),
• your signature.

Attach copies of all supporting documents.

Time limit for claiming:

⚠️ You have 3 years from the date of the accident to submit a claim to the UFG (Article 442¹ KC). That's a generous window, but don't sit on it — the sooner you claim, the sooner you'll get a decision.

Decision and payment timescales

The UFG must: - issue a decision within 30 days of receiving a complete claim, - pay out within 14 days of a positive decision.

In practice the whole process usually takes 30–60 days, because the UFG sometimes asks for further documents or clarification.

Recovery action against the at-fault driver

One important point: when the UFG pays you, that doesn't let the at-fault driver off the hook. The UFG can bring a recovery action (regres) against them — that is, it can demand repayment of the sum it paid out. This is known as a UFG regres claim.

In practice this means:

• the UFG pays you promptly and in full,
• it then tries to recover the money from the at-fault driver (sometimes successfully, sometimes not, depending on their means),
• you are not involved in that process at all.

⚠️ Whether or not the UFG later recovers the money from the at-fault driver has no bearing on your payout — you receive the full amount you're entitled to either way.

FAQ — frequently asked questions

Does the UFG actually check whether the at-fault driver really had no insurance? Yes. The UFG first checks its central register of insured vehicles to see whether the at-fault driver's car was covered. If it wasn't listed, the UFG pays out. If it turns out the driver did have cover after all, the UFG will reject your claim and redirect it to that driver's own insurer.

What are the chances the UFG will refuse my claim? Low — provided you have a police report describing the accident and confirming the at-fault driver had no OC cover. The UFG almost always pays in these cases (unless you were partly to blame for the accident, in which case it may reduce the payout).

What if liability for the accident is split, say 50-50? The UFG still pays you, but reduces the amount in proportion to your share of the blame. If you're found 50% responsible, you'll receive 50% of the compensation.

Does the UFG also cover pain and suffering compensation? Yes. Article 445 KC applies. The UFG covers both your financial losses and non-financial harm (zadośćuczynienie).

How much could I expect from the UFG? The limits are PLN 2 million per person for injury and PLN 500,000 per vehicle for property damage. In practice, almost every accident falls well within these limits.

What if the at-fault driver claims they did have insurance, but the policy had been cancelled? The UFG checks its central register for the date of the accident. If the policy wasn't active on that date, the UFG still pays you — and may then pursue a recovery claim against the driver's insurer over the incorrect renewal (a point that can itself be disputed).