The delay in mandatory insurance for electric scooters keeps companies and consumers in legal limbo

Owners of electric scooters await developments in regulatory matters. The past The regulation should have come into force on January 2 which requires you to take out an insurance policy for this type of vehicle. However, the fact that the Government has not yet approved the regulation necessary to launch the registry in which the scooters must be registered keeps companies in the sector and consumers in legal limbo.

Last July, the Congress of Deputies gave the green light to the Automobile Insurance Law, which extends the mandatory policy to a greater number of vehicles. Specifically, it establishes a “clearer definition of the vehicles that They must have mandatory liability insurance civil; expands the concept of “fact of circulation” and introduces the definition of Light Personal Vehicle (LPV), vehicles classified as such “with an electric motor that circulate on the ground using one or more wheels, equipped with a single seat and that can reach a maximum speed between 6 and 25 kilometers per hour if their weight is less than 25 kg or a maximum speed between 6 and 14 kilometers per hour if their weight exceeds this threshold.”

Among them are electric scooters or personal mobility cars, which are will require liability coverage civil with the objective of “making compatible the promotion of sustainable urban transport with the protection of victims of accidents caused.” The text includes the need to develop a regulation and establishes a time horizon for six months since the law is published to promote it and promote a public registry. This second measure is the responsibility of the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT). The obstacle lies in the fact that the royal decree that will give legal coverage to this registry has not yet passed through the Council of Ministers and, therefore, Traffic does not have the legal obligation to carry it out until the highest decision-making body of the Government takes the initiative.

The exception is marked by the Personal Mobility Vehicles (VMP) of more than 25 kilos that can reach a speed greater than 14 kilometers per hour, who have until January 26 to formalize the registration, as part of the transposition of a European directive. In order to contract the insurance, you must be registered at the Central Traffic Headquarters and have an identification label, which may be an assigned number or a license plate.

The document issued by the General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds (DGSFP) includes penalties that can range between 200 and 1,000 euros if insurance has not been contracted. Some insurers have been offering this product for years, which until now was voluntary, Although the new regulatory framework could push some companies to redefine the product to the regulatory provisions or design specific offers to the new requirements, with the focus on the minimum capital to be assured.

Compensation of 1.3 million is contemplated for material damage and may reach 6.45 million for personal injury due to an accident. regardless of the number of victims. The DGSFP admits that the data on accidents is quite “incomplete” and appeals to a report prepared by the Mapfre Foundation together with CESVIMAP, which is prepared annually and shows that in 2024 (the latest data available) 396 accidents were recorded in which personal mobility vehicles and vehicles had been involved. observe that similar figures are repeated again to those that occurred in 2022 (422 accidents with VMP involved), with a significant increase compared to 2023 (322) and 2021 (188).

“At this time, there is no historical database of national accident rates that is complete, reliable and with the desirable granularity, nor is there a volume of risks that allows insurance premiums to be adequately estimated,” the document highlights. At the present time, the rates existing ones range from 25 to 90 eurosan amount that is expected to rise due to greater coverage. “The greater the insured capital, the amount of claims paid by the insurer will be greater and, therefore, the higher the premium will be,” they specify.