Driving without insurance lawyer in Brussels: penalties, recovery claims and defence

Driving without insurance in Belgium means putting a motor vehicle on the road without valid third-party liability insurance (BA-verzekering / assurance RC). It is an offence under the Act of 21 November 1989 on compulsory motor liability insurance, known as the WAM Act (WAM-wet / loi RC auto), and it is prosecuted before the police court (politierechtbank / tribunal de police). The criminal penalty is only one side of the case: after an accident, the Belgian Common Guarantee Fund (Belgisch Gemeenschappelijk Waarborgfonds / Fonds commun de garantie belge) will claim back everything it paid to the victims, as a rule from the owner of the uninsured vehicle. Novex Advocaten, traffic law firm in Brussels, defends you on both fronts as your driving without insurance lawyer.

When is driving without insurance a criminal offence?

Article 22 of the WAM Act punishes the owner or keeper who puts a motor vehicle into traffic, or allows it to be put into traffic, without the civil liability being covered, as well as its driver. The keeper and the driver are only punishable if they know that the liability is not covered; for the owner, the statutory text does not set that condition. A keeper or driver who believed in good faith that they were insured, for instance because the insurer cancelled the policy without valid notice or because a premium paid through an intermediary was never passed on, can rely on that.

Typical situations are a policy cancelled by you or by the insurer, a suspension or cancellation for non-payment of the premium, a vehicle that is registered but not insured, and an uninsured vehicle belonging to someone else that you drive. A vehicle parked on the public road may also be regarded as having been put into traffic.

If the vehicle is insured, that policy in principle covers every driver towards the victims, including a driver who is not named in the policy. A restriction in the policy, for example for young drivers, may give the insurer a right of recourse or an excess against you, but it does not make you an uninsured driver within the meaning of Article 22.

Penalties for driving without insurance since 1 September 2026

The WAM Act has not yet been converted to the penalty levels (strafniveaus / niveaux de peine) of the new Criminal Code. Under the transitional rule in Article 78 of the Criminal Code, the former prison sentence of eight days to six months is read as a penalty of level 1. The court can therefore no longer impose imprisonment, but it can impose a fine, community service of 20 to 120 hours, a probation sentence of 6 to 12 months, confiscation or a conviction by declaration of guilt.

For the fine, the amounts in Article 22 (100 to 1,000 euros) are multiplied by ten, without any further statutory surcharge (opdeciemen / décimes additionnels) (Article 78(1), second paragraph, of the Criminal Code). For offences committed on or after 1 September 2026, this means an actual fine of 1,000 to 10,000 euros, the same amount as for offences committed between 1 February and 31 August 2026.

For offences committed before 1 September 2026, the former text of Article 22 applies: a prison sentence of eight days to six months and a fine of 100 to 1,000 euros (or only one of those penalties), increased by the statutory surcharge (× 8 until 31 January 2026, × 10 from 1 February 2026). In actual amounts, that is 800 to 8,000 euros and 1,000 to 10,000 euros respectively.

If you are tried after 1 September 2026 for older offences, the court applies the most lenient criminal law (Article 2 of the Criminal Code). Since the new regime no longer provides for imprisonment, a prison sentence is in principle ruled out in that case too. Read more in our explanation of the new Criminal Code and traffic offences.

How does the procedure work?

1. Detection. The police establish the lack of insurance during a check or after an accident, usually after consulting the registration and insurance databases. The police may immobilise or seize the vehicle on the spot, or seize its number plates (Article 20 of the WAM Act).
2. Settlement or summons. The public prosecutor may offer a criminal settlement (minnelijke schikking / transaction); in the event of an accident, a repeat offence or concurrent offences, a summons (dagvaarding / citation) to the police court usually follows.
3. Civil claim. After an accident, the Guarantee Fund joins the criminal case as a civil party or brings separate proceedings against you to recover what it paid to the victims. That claim can be very high where there is personal injury.
4. Judgment and remedies. Your lawyer pleads on your behalf; an appeal against the judgment can be lodged within thirty days. If you were convicted by default, you can as a rule lodge an objection (verzet / opposition) within fifteen days of service; see also objection or appeal against a police court judgment.

Our approach

We first examine the cover: had the policy really ended, was the cancellation properly notified, was there cover under another policy or through the owner’s insurer, and did you know that you were not covered? Each of these questions can lead to an acquittal. In the event of non-payment of the premium, the Insurance Act as a rule requires a formal notice of default before the insurer can suspend cover or cancel the contract.

If the offence is proven, we argue for a fine adapted to your financial means (Article 52 § 2 of the Criminal Code), even below the statutory minimum if your financial situation is precarious, for community service, for suspension of the pronouncement (opschorting / suspension du prononcé) or a suspended sentence (uitstel / sursis), and against a driving ban that would cost you your job. With the Guarantee Fund, we negotiate the amount and a payment plan, and we challenge the extent of the damage where this is justified. See also suspension and suspended sentences in traffic law and compensation after a road accident.

In practice

Take out new insurance before the hearing and bring proof of it: the court takes this into account when setting the penalty and deciding on the vehicle. Do not drive the vehicle again until it is insured. Keep every letter from the insurer and the broker; the date of the cancellation and the date of its notification determine whether you knew. See also how the police court works and what to do after receiving a summons.

Which police courts do we appear before?

Novex Advocaten appears before the Brussels police court (Dutch-speaking and French-speaking), the Halle police court, the Vilvoorde police court, the Leuven police court and the Aalst police court.

Contact

Received a police report, a summons or a letter from the Guarantee Fund? Call 0484 99 22 72, email asfour@novexadvocaten.be or use the contact form. You can also read beforehand what a traffic lawyer costs.