RCA Insurance Is Also Valid in Electronic Format

In recent years, the growth of online platforms and websites that allow drivers to buy car insurance online has raised a common question on specialist sites: is an RCA policy still valid if it is presented in electronic form?

Until the second half of 2020, drivers were required to show control authorities a physical paper copy of their RCA insurance. However, following the restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) decided, in its meeting of 26 August 2020, to amend and supplement Norm No. 20/2017.

The amendment to this Romanian motor insurance norm focused on the provision that regulates proof of RCA coverage during checks carried out by authorised authorities.

How to prove that you have valid RCA insurance

As a result of the changes mentioned above, Article 10, paragraph (11) of Norm No. 20/2017 now provides the following:

Proof of RCA insurance, during inspections carried out by the competent authorities, may be made in any of the following ways:

a) the RCA insurance policy and RCA contract issued by the RCA insurer, for the period of validity stated, presented on paper or in electronic format;

b) proof of motor third-party liability insurance issued by RCA insurers from other states, valid on the territory of Romania and only for the period mentioned in the document, or the border insurance policy for vehicles registered in countries outside the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation, presented on paper or in electronic format;

c) information obtained from consulting the database of compulsory motor third-party liability insurance concluded on the territory of Romania, which certifies the existence of a valid RCA contract on the date of the query.

This makes it clear: drivers cannot be fined simply because they do not have the RCA policy on paper. They may show it on a phone, or even go a step further and have its validity checked directly with the police through the AIDA database at aida.info.ro.

How RCA insurance validity is checked

The new rules on a driver’s obligation to present proof of valid RCA coverage are straightforward and leave little room for interpretation. If, during a roadside check, an officer asks for the RCA policy, drivers now have three options:

1. Present the RCA insurance in physical form, printed on paper;
2. Present the RCA insurance electronically, on a phone, tablet, or laptop;
3. Ask the officer to verify the validity of the RCA policy by querying the database of motor third-party liability insurance concluded on Romanian territory.

This amendment to the RCA Norm effectively answers the main questions circulating online, namely:

• Is RCA insurance valid in electronic format?
• Can I show the police my RCA insurance on my phone?
• Can I show the police a photo of my RCA insurance?
• Can I ask the police officer to check RCA validity in the database?
• Can I drive my car if I do not have the RCA policy with me?

The answer to all of these questions is YES. Starting on 26 August 2020, drivers are no longer required to present an RCA policy printed on paper. If you are nevertheless challenged on this point, you can invoke Norm No. 20/2017, as amended in 2020.

There have been numerous reports from drivers saying they encounter problems with some control officers when they show their RCA policy on a phone or ask for it to be checked in the AIDA database.

In such cases, drivers should be prepared to cite RCA Norm No. 20/2017, Article 10, paragraph 11. If a contravention report is drawn up for failure to present documents — and unfortunately, such practices have also been reported — this should be noted under Observations. In court, they should be able to obtain a favourable outcome quickly, even without a lawyer.

Once the norm was amended and the requirement to carry a printed RCA policy on paper was removed, all obstacles to purchasing cheap RCA online insurance for vehicle owners were also eliminated.

This created the right conditions for anyone looking for cheap car insurance to go beyond traditional distribution channels such as insurance brokers, insurance agents, or direct purchases from insurers, and instead use an online price calculator to compare the best offers and secure the most competitive RCA price on the market.

The insurance issuance platform made available free of charge to visitors is easy to use and gives you the possibility of obtaining the cheapest RCA insurance in just a few dozen seconds, without having to present all vehicle documents, since the characteristics of the car and the owner are usually identified automatically.

Whether your RCA policy is about to expire and you need to renew it, or you simply want to make a car RCA quote for your vehicle, you can use the asignet.ro platform to obtain all available price offers quickly and effortlessly.

Payment for RCA policies issued through the platform is also made online, by bank card, in complete security, and the policy is delivered instantly so that it can be downloaded to your phone, laptop, or e-mail inbox.

Although early-year signals from the RCA market were discouraging and pointed to rising insurance costs, the reality over the last 12 months has been different: prices have stabilised and have even fallen for some customer segments.

Price stabilisation was also helped by the arrival on the RCA market of companies such as Axeria Iard, Hellas Direct, Eazy Insure and DallBogg, insurers offering competitive prices for certain categories of customers, which in turn pushed other insurers to reposition their pricing.

Conclusion: car insurance is valid on your phone too

The validity of RCA insurance in electronic format is still not widely known by many insurance customers and, surprisingly, even by some control officers who continue to request the policy in printed form.

It is worth noting that electronic validity also applies to RCA insurance used for vehicle registration. So if you are about to buy a car and need this type of insurance for registration, you can complete it online without worrying about printing it or keeping a paper copy in the vehicle.

If you hold an RCA policy for registration purposes and its existence is being checked in the database, search it by chassis number, because a search by registration number will not return any result; the policy does not contain the registration plate number.

Another important point that may help many drivers is that when travelling abroad, you may be asked to show the insurance in physical form at border crossing points.

Although Romanian legislation is harmonised with European directives and an electronic policy is valid proof that the vehicle has RCA coverage, drivers leaving the country are advised to print the RCA policy before departure to avoid delays when transiting other states.

Even more important is to check the Green Card validity abroad, so that you do not face the unpleasant surprise that it is not valid in the country or countries you are crossing and need to purchase a policy on the spot, which can be very expensive.