Let’s clarify one of the major doubts about a stationary and non-circulating car: the possible obligation to pay insurance
You have a stationary car and you keep it in the yard, you inherited it or you bought a new one waiting to sell the older one. You put the ad on the internet without giving it to the dealership and paying the commissions. Of course you want to know if you need to renew your insurance even if you keep the car stationary and don’t use it. You want to see clearly because obviously, if you’re not driving, the police won’t be able to stop you at the checkpoint in that car and fine you because you haven’t renewed your Rc Auto contract. But at the same time you don’t want maybe your neighbors to give you trouble or report it or have any other kind of problem.
Let ‘s see what the law provides for unused cars and insurance dawn at 25.
Stationary car, paying the insurance remains an obligation
According to what Italian law declares, the Rc Auto must also be paid for cars that are not circulating and remain stationary in their parking space. The reason is that, even if the car owner does not intend to drive his car for a certain period of time and for different reasons (for example, illness or a long journey), he is still obliged to regularize the insurance policy which cannot be suspended.
This also protects the owner of the car from different subjects who could use it even against his will , with the risk of causing accidents. Having said that, we have therefore answered the question: does anyone who leaves their car in the courtyard have to pay for insurance? Absolutely yes. In fact, the obligation does not depend on the decision to use the vehicle, but on its fitness to circulate.
According to the Court of the European Union, the subjective intention of the owner, who no longer wants to drive the car in question, is not considered pertinent and therefore does not change in any way the insurance obligation and the responsibility of the owner for the damage caused by the vehicle.
Are there any cases in which it is possible not to pay the insurance for a stationary car?
In reality, somehow, it is possible to no longer pay the Rc Auto policy for a non-circulating car. There are some obligations to be respected in order to enjoy this possibility:
- request the deregistration of the car from the PRA and then withdraw it from circulation. In this case the car can no longer park in a public or private space open to the public;
- leave the car in an open private area to which the public or a garage does not have access. The condominium courtyard cannot be used as a deposit for cars whose insurance is suspended. The purpose of the Rc Auto for parked or non-circulating cars is still to prevent them from posing a danger to third parties, causing even serious damages, which perhaps derive from the incorrect way in which the car was parked.
Among the private spaces considered open to the public are:
- the area in front of a petrol station;
- the parking lot of a shopping mall;
- a municipal area used for parking vehicles;
- the edge of the sidewalk even if it is a blind road or closed to traffic.
Instead, it is possible to leave the car (without paying for the insurance) in one’s own private space, even if there is no fence to delimit the boundaries, and in one’s own garage.
One last thing to know and clarified by the Court of Justice is that if the car without insurance coverage is left in a garage or private courtyard and a third party takes it against the owner’s will, the latter is still responsible.
The news of the European directive 2021/2118
EU directive 2021/2118, published on 2 December 2021, extended the obligation to have insurance coverage to vehicles kept stationary in private areas. A novelty that must be implemented and applied by Italy by 23 December 2023.
