Driving without insurance in Belgium: penalties, Guarantee Fund recovery and defence

Driving without insurance in Belgium is not an administrative oversight but a criminal offence, and the criminal penalty is rarely the biggest problem. Anyone who causes an accident with an uninsured vehicle is personally liable for the other party’s entire loss. Where people are injured, this can add up to sums that weigh on a family for years.

Below you will find the penalty you face under the new Criminal Code, why your knowledge is decisive and how the Belgian Common Guarantee Fund recovers what it has paid out. For assistance with a specific case, see our page lawyer for driving without insurance in Brussels.

Driving without insurance in Belgium: what does the law say?

The Act of 21 November 1989 on compulsory motor vehicle liability insurance (WAM-wet / loi RC auto, hereafter the WAM Act) requires the owner or keeper of a motor vehicle to insure the civil liability to which the vehicle may give rise. This obligation applies on public roads and on land open to the public or to a certain number of people entitled to use it (Article 2, § 1). Article 22, § 1 of the WAM Act penalises the owner or keeper who puts a motor vehicle into circulation, or allows it to be put into circulation, without that cover, as well as its driver. These cases are generally heard by the police court (politierechtbank / tribunal de police) (Article 138 of the Code of Criminal Procedure).

Offences committed from 1 September 2026: a level 1 penalty

The penalty clause in Article 22 was not converted into the penalty levels (strafniveaus / niveaux de peine) of the new Criminal Code. For offences committed from 1 September 2026, it is read as a level 1 penalty (Article 78 of the Criminal Code). A prison sentence is therefore no longer possible.

At level 1, the court imposes one of the following penalties listed in Article 36 of the Criminal Code: a fine, community service (werkstraf / peine de travail) of 20 to 120 hours, a probation order of 6 to 12 months, confiscation, or a conviction by declaration of guilt (veroordeling bij schuldigverklaring / condamnation par déclaration de culpabilité). For driving without insurance, the fine ranges from 1,000 to 10,000 euros: the amounts in Article 22 are multiplied by ten, without any further statutory surcharge (opdeciemen / décimes additionnels) (Article 78(1), second paragraph, of the Criminal Code).

Offences committed before 1 September 2026: the old penalties

For older offences, the original penalties of Article 22 still apply: imprisonment of eight days to six months and a fine of 100 to 1,000 euros, or one of those penalties alone. With the surcharge, that fine amounts to 800 to 8,000 euros for offences committed before 1 February 2026, and to 1,000 to 10,000 euros for offences committed from 1 February to 31 August 2026. The court will, however, apply the new rules if they are more favourable to you (Article 2 of the Criminal Code).

Additional penalties

Article 24 of the WAM Act also allows the court to:

• Impose a driving ban (verval van het recht tot sturen / déchéance du droit de conduire), for at least eight days and at most five years, or permanently;
• Order the confiscation of the vehicle.

What a driving ban involves and how you can drive again afterwards is explained in our article on the driving ban and the loss of the right to drive.

The element that is often overlooked: your knowledge

The keeper and the driver are only punishable if they know that the liability is not covered (Article 22, § 1, second paragraph of the WAM Act); for the owner, the statutory text does not lay down that condition. This is not a detail but the core of many defences. It is for the public prosecutor to prove that knowledge. Think, for example, of:

• a policy cancelled for non-payment while the registered letter was never received;
• the car of a relative or employer that you could reasonably assume was insured;
• a direct debit that was stopped without your knowledge;
• a policy that the broker failed to put in order in time.

In such cases, we request the complete insurance file: the cancellation letter, the proof of dispatch, the premium payments and the correspondence with the broker. If it shows that, as keeper or driver, you did not know the vehicle was uninsured, one of the constituent elements of the offence is missing.

Recovery by the Belgian Common Guarantee Fund

If you drive uninsured and cause an accident, the victim is not left out in the cold: the Belgian Common Guarantee Fund (Belgisch Gemeenschappelijk Waarborgfonds / Fonds commun de garantie belge) compensates the injured parties. The Fund then takes recourse for the full amount it paid out. For accidents since 22 June 2017, that recourse is as a rule directed solely against the owner of the uninsured vehicle, even if someone else was driving (Article 19bis-14, § 5 of the WAM Act).

There is no ceiling: it is a personal debt that is still pursued years later. With an enforceable title, the Fund can have your assets seized, including your wages within the statutory limits. An acquittal in the criminal case does not automatically end that claim: the recourse against the owner does not depend on the owner’s own liability for the accident, and the owner has no right to recover the amount (Article 19bis-14, § 5 of the WAM Act).

That is why we never treat a “driving without insurance” case as a purely criminal matter. The recovery claim, and where appropriate a repayment plan agreed with the Fund, shapes your financial future far more than the fine.

What can be achieved before the police court?

• Show that the situation has been regularised. Producing proof at the hearing that the vehicle has since been insured or deregistered immediately changes the tone of the debate.
• Ask for suspension of the pronouncement of sentence (opschorting van de uitspraak / suspension du prononcé), especially with a clean criminal record (Article 64 of the Criminal Code). No penalty is then imposed and the decision does not, in principle, appear on the extract from the criminal record, which matters if your profession requires such an extract. Suspension requires your consent.
• Ask for a suspended sentence (uitstel / sursis, Article 65 of the Criminal Code). There is a conviction, but the penalty is not enforced, or not in full; a suspended sentence can also cover an additional penalty such as the driving ban, although for a driving ban imposed under the Road Traffic Act at least eight days must actually be served (Article 41 of that Act).
• Propose community service or a conviction by declaration of guilt (Articles 45 and 51 of the Criminal Code). Community service requires your consent, which you can give in person or through your lawyer.
• Ask for a fine tailored to your means. The court takes your financial capacity into account and, if your financial situation is precarious, may go below the statutory minimum (Article 52, § 2 of the Criminal Code).
• Avoid confiscation by showing that the vehicle is essential for your work or your family, or that it belongs to a third party acting in good faith.
• Limit the driving ban in duration and, where the law allows, to certain vehicle categories or certain days, such as weekends (Articles 45 and 38 § 2bis of the Road Traffic Act, which apply to this ban by virtue of Article 24 of the WAM Act).

You can read more about these more lenient outcomes in our articles on suspension, suspended sentences and community service and on avoiding or limiting a driving ban.

Prevention: three things to check

After every change of address or vehicle, check that your policy is actually in force. Keep your insurer’s letters, especially a formal notice for an unpaid premium or a cancellation letter. Have the number plate of a vehicle you no longer use cancelled, rather than simply letting the insurance lapse.

A vehicle parked on the public road or in a car park open to the public must also be insured.

Frequently asked questions about driving without insurance

Can I still go to prison for driving without insurance?

Not for offences committed from 1 September 2026: the offence is read as a level 1 penalty, and that level does not include imprisonment. For older offences the law still provided for eight days to six months, but the court applies the new rules if they are more favourable.

Do I have to repay what the Guarantee Fund paid to the victim?

In principle yes if you own the uninsured vehicle, even if someone else was driving: for accidents since 22 June 2017, the Fund as a rule takes recourse against the owner (Article 19bis-14, § 5 of the WAM Act). The Fund recovers the full amount, with no ceiling. We check whether liability and the extent of the damage have been correctly established and, if necessary, negotiate a repayment plan.

Will a conviction appear on my criminal record?

A conviction, even with a suspended sentence, is entered in the criminal record. With a suspension of the pronouncement, the decision does not in principle appear on the extract. Under certain conditions older convictions can be erased; see our article on erasure and rehabilitation.

Novex Advocaten can help

Have you received a summons (dagvaarding / citation), or a letter from the Belgian Common Guarantee Fund? Send us both: the criminal case and the recovery claim are linked and are best handled in a single strategy. Mr Mohamed Asfour, lawyer, pleads before the police courts of Brussels, Halle, Vilvoorde, Leuven and Aalst.

Call 0484 99 22 72 or email asfour@novexadvocaten.be.