What is the Bureau Central Français?

The French green card Bureau, so-called Bureau Central Français (BCF) is a non-profit association according to the Law of the 1st of July 1901. Any insurance company operating in Motor Third Part Liablity (class 10) shall be a member of the Bureau. It can be a company:

• with its heaquarter in France,
• established in France,
• working under the freedom of services provisions (art. L 421-15 of the insurance code).

The BCF currently consists of 127 members, of which 27 operate under the freedom of services provisions. It was founded in 1951 in the framework of the "green card"system to facilitate international motor vehicle traffic and claims handling settlement.

What is its mission?

Within the green card system, the BCF is liable for compensation of victims of accidents:

• caused in France by vehicles registered abroad.
• causes abroad by vehicles registered in France.

It is also responsible for issuing green cards, which allow motorists to travel in all member countries of the green card system wihtout needing to take out an insurance policy in each of these countries.

In addition, the BCF manages the "Frontier Insurance" coinsurance group.
It issues "frontier insurance" policies to uninsured foreign motorists (essentially vehicles registered in countries that are not members of the green card system) and handles corresponding claims.