Green Card insurance and format (page currently being modified)

Green Card issuers

Although Green Cards are issued under the supervision of the Bureau Central Français, in practice they are issued by the insurers themselves, bearing in mind that insurance undertakings are entitled to issue French Green Cards only if they have joined the BCF, which merely supplies the specimen document to its members and gives each one an identification code that must be shown on the document.

Each BCF member prints its Green Cards on its own account on the basis of the specifications drawn up by the Bureau, which are issued solely to insurers, at their request. The BCF keeps a stock of standard Green Cards at the disposal of its members in case they run out. All requests should be sent to the following address: entite.support@bcf.asso.fr.

Green Card format

The Green Card is a standardised document. The format and contents are approved by the Economic Commission for Europe of the United Nations on the recommendation of the Council of Bureaux and no changes may be made without the UN’s endorsement.

A revised Green Card format was introduced as of 1st January 2009. If a Green Card is validly issued under the old format for more than one year (e.g. 5 years) within the transitional period (between 1st January 2009 and 31st December 2010), it will remain valid for the whole duration of its validity even if its validity goes beyond the transitional period of two years. However, any Green Card issued under the old format after 1st January 2011 will no longer be considered as valid.

Validity period

The minimum validity period of a Green Card is fifteen days and it extends over the entire term of the policy cover. If a Green Card expires while travelling in a country within the Green Card System, the vehicle owner must take out a frontier insurance policy or temporary cover in this country.