Countries with membership of the European Union are permitted free access across international borders and are free to work in allied states.
Despite this, each member country still follows its own, as well as EU laws and regulations, including those related to motoring, and particularly to car insurance and auto-cover.
The United Kingdom has been a member state of the European Community for over 30 years and yet UK drivers who assume that their car insurance will cover them when motoring abroad in the EU could find themselves in legal trouble.
In most European countries a British driver will not be completely covered and some UK insurance companies state that anyone who is considering driving across Europe should ensure that they have European car insurance as well as their standard UK insurance policy.
Over a quarter of British car owners driving across Europe assume that their auto insurance will cover them whilst out of the country.
If they have an accident involving another car when driving in Europe, all that may be covered is the other person's loss.
Their own car will not be insured as UK auto insurance policies are limited to third party only on the European continent.
You must inform your auto-insurance company if you are planning on driving though the EU as they will inform you about any particularities of the European countries in which you plan to drive through.
UK car insurance agencies should usually advise their clients that they should take out European car insurance as well as their British insurance.
The average cost of auto insurance in the EU is often determined by the number of traffic incidents in a given state.