Motor third-party liability insurance

MTPL is compulsory liability insurance. It insures the liability of the person in possession of the vehicle, including the driver, for damage caused by the vehicle to another person. MTPL insurance for the person who caused the damage pays for the damage caused to others. In other words, the person who caused an accident does not have to pay for the damage caused because MTPL insurance will cover the damage for them.

In addition to MTPL insurance, a vehicle may also have voluntary vehicle insurance, commonly known as casco insurance. Casco insures the vehicle itself. This means that the insurer will indemnify the damage caused by damage to or destruction of the insured vehicle.

An MTPL insurance contract must be entered into for the following land vehicles powered exclusively by motor power and their trailers:

• a vehicle, including an off-road vehicle, registered in the motor register;

This means all of the vehicles subject to registration in the motor register, incl. passenger cars, lorries, buses, mopeds, motorbikes, tractors, snowmobiles and ATVs. A contract must also be entered into for the trailers of such vehicles.

• tram and trolleybus;
• a vehicle with a removable licence plate issued in Estonia, a test-drive vehicle with a temporary licence plate;
• a vehicle with a transit licence plate issued in Estonia;
• other vehicle, the design speed of which exceeds 25 km/h or a vehicle the design speed of which exceeds 14 km/h and the mass of which exceeds 25 kg;
• a vehicle whose main location is in a foreign country.

Only an insurer of the country where the vehicle is mainly located can enter into an MTPL insurance contract for a vehicle whose main location is in a Contracting Party to the European Economic Area Agreement or the Swiss Confederation.

A vehicle whose main location is outside a Contracting Party to the European Economic Area or Switzerland can be insured under a frontier insurance contract or issued with a green card in the country of its main location.

From 1 December 2024, MTPL insurance was extended to some unregistered vehicles, see more details here.

A vehicle without MTPL insurance may not be used in traffic. A motor vehicle registered in the motor register or its trailer must be covered by effective MTPL insurance at all times, apart from three exceptions.

• Vehicles of the Defence Forces, the Security Police Board, the Defence League and the Police and Border Guard Board do not have to insured in Estonia.
• insurance must not be taken out within the 12 calendar months following the expiry of the contract on the condition that the vehicle does not participate in traffic during this time and is not used in any other manner that might cause an insured event, see explanation here.

The 12-month exception is meant for seasonal vehicles, such as mopeds or motorbikes that are not used in winter.
The exemption period ends if the vehicle is deleted from the motor register.

• Off-road vehicles, vintage vehicles and racing vehicles that are not used in traffic do not have to be insured.

If a motor vehicle registered in the motor register is uninsured, it is subject to compulsory MTPL insurance.

Vehicles not registered in the motor register which are used outside road traffic only on the territory of an aerodrome, port or registered immovable closed for traffic, or in any other area closed to public traffic, are not required to have MTPL insurance.

Similarly, a wheelchair specially designed for physically disabled persons is not considered a vehicle in the context of MTPL insurance.

As an exception, a vehicle in the motor register or its trailer may be not covered with MTPL insurance during the 12 months following the expiry of the contract. The vehicle may not participate in traffic during the exemption period and it may not be used in any other manner that might cause an insured event, see examples here.

The exemption period starts from the moment of expiry of the last MTPL insurance contract and ends when:

• 12 months pass from the expiry of the last MTPL insurance contract;

For example, if MTPL insurance expires on 15 October 2016, the exemption periods ends on 15 October 2017 at the latest.

• the new insurance period starts; or
• the vehicle is deleted, incl. temporarily, from the MTPL insurance register.

If the vehicle is used in traffic during this period, the police will impose a fine. If damage is caused with the vehicle during this period, the last insurer will indemnify the victim for the damage, but the person who caused the damage must compensate the insurer for the indemnity it paid out.

Insurance must be taken out:

• by a person entered in the motor register if no authorised user of the vehicle has been entered in the register;
• the person entered in the motor register as the authorised user of the vehicle.

If there is no obligation to register a vehicle, the owner of the vehicle is required to enter into a contract.