About motor third party liability insurance

Do you own a vehicle? In that case you probably need motor third party liability (MTPL) insurance - this is a legal requirement that applies from the first day of ownership of a vehicle.

Read here about what applies, which vehicles are covered, and what exceptions exist.

The most important points in brief

Under the Motor Traffic Damage Act most vehicles must have motor third party liability (MTPL) insurance.
The MTPL insurance policyholder must be the vehicle owner or the person leasing the vehicle.
The insurance policy must apply from the day you are registered as owner.
The vehicle must be insured even when you are not using it. The only exception is if the vehicle is notified as off road.
If your vehicle is not insured you are breaking the law.
You must pay a charge to us for each day your vehicle is not insured. This is called a MTPL insurance charge.

What is MTPL insurance?

Motor third party liability (MTPL) insurance covers personal injury claims and claims concerning damage to other people’s property if your vehicle causes an accident.

It does not cover damage to your own vehicle or property in the vehicle - that requires comprehensive or partial insurance cover.

When must you have MTPL insurance?

You must have MTPL insurance when you own or lease a vehicle that is required to have MTPL insurance.

The MTPL insurance requirement applies to most motor vehicles and means that MTPL insurance is compulsory for them. The legal provisions can be found in Section 2 of the Motor Traffic Damage Act.

The vehicle must have MTPL insurance as long as it is notified as on road - even if the vehicle

is not used.
is in such bad condition that it cannot be driven.
has been taken to a workshop for repair.
is prohibited from being driven.
is stolen.
has been taken to a car dealer to be sold. You are responsible for ensuring that it is insured until you are no longer registered as the owner.
has been confiscated by an authority and you are able to collect the vehicle.
has been taken to a vehicle dismantler but has not been deregistered.

Who is responsible?

If you own or lease a vehicle you are responsible for ensuring it is insured.

Important to remember:

The insurance policy must be in your name – if it is in someone else’s name the vehicle is considered to be uninsured.
The insurance policy must apply from the day you are registered as owner. This applies even if the first day is a weekend day or a public holiday.
Take out insurance immediately - you do not need to wait for the registration certificate from the Swedish Transport Agency.
If there is a previous owner, that person’s insurance expires as soon as the vehicle ownership changes.

An owner who is a minor

If the owner is a minor (under the age of 18) and has no driving licence or driving certificate, a custodian must be registered in the road traffic registry. It is the custodian who must take out MTPL insurance in their own name and be responsible for payment.

This responsibility ceases on the date on which the custodian is removed from the road traffic registry. At that time the owner must have taken out MTPL insurance in their own name. The timing depends on the type of vehicle:

Moped: When the owner obtains a driving certificate or driving licence.
Other vehicles: When the owner turns 18.

Which vehicles must have MTPL insurance?

Most motor vehicles are required to have MTPL insurance. Some examples:

Passenger cars

Lorries

Buses

Motorcycles

Mopeds and moped cars

Class 1 mopeds (EU mopeds and moped cars) must have MTPL insurance. These mopeds must be registered with the Swedish Transport Agency and have a registration plate.

Class II mopeds do not need to be registered and therefore have no registration plate. However, you must have MTPL insurance when using the moped. As driver you must carry a certificate of insurance with you, otherwise you risk a fine.

Electric scooters and other light electric vehicle

MTPL insurance is compulsory for many electric scooters and some other light electric vehicles. It is the speed and weight that determine whether the vehicle should be insured. It is you who owns the vehicle who must take out the insurance. And you must always have the insurance certificate with you when you travel with the vehicle.

Vehicles with these properties must have MTPL insurance:

Electric powered vehicles without pedals or cranking device, if the vehicle is designed to go faster than 20 kilometres per hour.
Electric powered vehicles without pedals or cranking device, if the vehicle is designed to go faster than 14 kilometres per hour and weighs more than 25 kilos.

Examples of vehicles with these properties are electric scooters, electric kickbikes or self-balancing vehicles.

If you are uncertain as to the type of electric powered vehicle you have, you can contact the retailer.

Electric bicycles

An electric bicycle that is a bicycle does not need MTPL insurance.

An electric bicycle with an electric motor that continues to give assistance when you exceed 25 kilometres per hour is no longer a bicycle, and in that case it must have MTPL insurance if it is used. The same applies if the electric bicycle’s motor has a continuous power rating of more than 250 watts.

If you do not know how your electric bicycle is classified, ask the seller.

You can find more information on electric bicycles at the Swedish Transport Agency.

Swedish Transport Agency website

Tractors

A-tractors

“Quad bikes”/ATVs

Snowmobiles

Trucks and Garden tractors or ride-on lawn mowers with towing hook or eye

All motor powered, self-propelled vehicles controlled by a driver and designed for speeds of more than 30 kilometres per hour or weighing more than 2,000 kilos, must have MTPL insurance.

All motorised equipment that weighs a maximum of 2,000 kilos and has a transport function must also have MTPL insurance. Motorised equipment having a transport function means that it is manufactured or used for transporting goods or people to a large extent.

Motorised equipment that has a transport function is designed with any of these properties:

It has for example a platform, bucket, fork or trough.
It has a tank and is intended to be driven on land with its load.
It has a towing function (towing hook).
It has more seats than the driving seat and operating seat.
With a driver the motor vehicle can be transported on routes other than solely within or between working areas

Thus motorised equipment must have MTPL insurance if it is designed with any of the properties on the list. The sole fact that given its design and fuel the motor vehicle can be moved, or a person can drive and manoeuvre it, does not mean that the motor vehicle must have MTPL insurance.

There is lighter motorised equipment that does not have to have MTPL insurance.

Motorised equipment subject to registration must have MTPL insurance regardless of the speed it is designed for.

Email us if you are unsure whether your motorised equipment is obliged to have MTPL insurance or not.

Our email address

When do you not need MTPL insurance?

Vehicles that are notified as off-road in the road traffic registry do not need to have MTPL insurance as long as they are not used.

There are also a few motor vehicles that are exempt from the MTPL insurance requirement. The legal provisions can be found in Section 1 of the Motor Traffic Damage Act.

Some examples:

Handicap vehicles, such as electric wheelchairs.
Vehicles used by people walking, such as motor mowers, snow blowers or garden cultivators.
Other types of vehicle that are coupled to a motor vehicle, such as caravans and trailers. Such a vehicle does not need to have MTPL insurance since the motor vehicle’s insurance applies to the entire vehicle combination.
When a vehicle is used within an enclosed competition area for competitions, training, driving practice, display or similar. Here motor sports insurance is applicable.

What applies abroad?

Your Swedish MTPL insurance is valid in all countries in the Green Card system. The system covers almost all European countries and some countries that border Europe. More about the Green Card system

If you travel outside the Green Card system you need to find out what rules apply there.

How to take out MTPL insurance

Contact an insurance company.
It is often possible to take out insurance online via their website.
Select coverage.
MTPL insurance is compulsory, but you can extend coverage to partial coverage or comprehensive coverage.
Take out the policy in your name.
The vehicle owner or the person leasing the vehicle must be the policyholder.

If your vehicle does not have MTPL insurance

If your vehicle is not insured you are in violation of the Motor Traffic Damage Act. You must then pay a charge to us for each day your vehicle is not insured. This is called a MTPL insurance charge.

More about the charge for uninsured vehicles

The Motor Traffic Damage Act

The regulations on MTPL insurance are set out in the Motor Traffic Damage Act. The Act is available to read on the Sveriges Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) website (in Swedish).

The Motor Traffic Damage Act (in Swedish)

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