I had heard that if the driver is not legally entitled to drive then insurance for the car is invalid. Does anyone have a link to show what the law actually states?

In Switzerland Tom is right and you were misinformed for here. It may be true for other countries but then it would pertain to the liability cover for that person on the vehicle not for others using it, as applicable, or loss from other causes.

I'm afraid I don't have a link but in CH the insurance is still valid.

On no account should someone who has had there licence suspended drive in that particular territory tho obviously.

So a 16 year old can go and buy a car and insure it - and if they have a massive accident when driving, drunk and drugged in middle of the night, without licence - the Insurance would cover the cost of all injuries, deaths, etc? This is not a hysterical questions btw- but hypothetical!


The EU website states this very clearly :

if you have been banned from driving in the country where you are currently resident, this ban is valid for all countries, in the whole world.

so are you categorically stating that the official EU website is wrong?

Hi Odile.

Well no because they would be acting illegally and aren't entitled to drive.

However if someone went and brought a car and insured it lost their licence and someone else had have a massive accident when driving, drunk and drugged in middle of the night... then yes, BUT.... because they too would be acting illegally they would be held accountable personally and the clauses in the contract would kick in for example they would not receive the full payment for the value of loss to the asset. It gets a little messy and complex and tends to be case by case as I'm sure you can appreciate.

Thanks Saint - but of course someone whose driving licence has been taken away by Police would be driving illegally too, no? Which is my point from the start.

It is talking about EU licences for EU residents, it is not detailing having a non EU licence and offences committed in non EU countries nor people with more than one licence... The ban is in the country the offence happens in but if this happens to be your domicile country your licence is revoked for this time. Without a licence you can't drive in other states.... however if you have a second or even third licence that is not from your domicile state the matter is very different.

In this case the driver would most likely be liabel for a big part of the amount that the insurence paid out, as his behaviour constitutes gross negligence. According to this brochure by TCS the 3rd party liability insurence can claim back up to 70% of the benefits paid out, if drugs are involved.
www.polizei.lu.ch/nulltoleranz_tcs.pdf

All very true.

One must be a little careful with the terms 'tho; he was acting in a "grossly negligent way" but as far as insurance is concerned it doesn't constitute gross negligence but instead an illegal behaviour. Damn legal "definitions"! I swear it gives lawyers things to argue about for years! Anyway .. If someone has gross negligence cover on their policy they may think it protects them over such behaviour, it doesn't. Here is one of our articles:

101.4.1 Coverage for gross negligence
If coverage is agreed for gross negligence, Zurich shall waive its right
of recovery due to it from you or the in- sured parties under Article 65 para- graph 3 of the Swiss Road Traffic Act (SVG) on grounds of having caused
the insured event through gross negli- gence as defined in Article 14 para- graphs 2 and 3 of the Swiss Federal Law on Insurance Contracts (VVG/LCA), with the exception of cases in which the driver caused the accident while under the influence of alcohol or drugs or due to misuse of medication, and cases where the accident was caused with in- tent or with indirect intent.

Not if it is a EU licence, as you are supposed to have handed it in when you swapped for Swiss one. Some people do pretend to have lost a licence or have it stolen, in order to get a second one as spare- but it is not valid surely, as the swap and withdrawal will be registered (in the UK with the DVLA). However, I am not sure about the US. As I can't find a clear link to that effect, I will check with the Service des Autos and the Police to make sure. As said before, when someone is sent to prison, it won't be worth much to say 'but I read it on EF, so it must be correct'.

True, but I think the OP's is a US licence.

I have both. I have a drivers license from an EU country as well as my US one. I gave my US license to the Swiss authorties when I got my swiss drivers license and they returned it. They did not ask if I had any other drivers licenses until now.

I know it's illegal to have 2 licenses issues by 2 EU states, as Switzerland has a no of agreements I would tread carefully.

I'd be more concerned about being insured... Insurance companies are great at finding an out when the chips are down.

However not in CH, they just pay out without even blinking.