The price of the mandatory liability insurance (RCA) for heavy vehicles has increased by 19%, from RON 9,000 to RON 11,000 per year for a new truck, class B0, following the expiration of the RCA price cap on July 1, 2025, with the upward trend expected to continue, warns the Confederation of Authorized Operators and. Carriers in Romania (COTAR).

According to transport industry representatives, even drivers with the maximum bonus rating (B8) and no accidents in at least eight years are now classified as „high-risk” and are paying more for their mandatory vehicle insurance.

„Where else in the world, besides Romania, does an RCA policy — which by law should be 50% cheaper for B8 — become more expensive upon renewal, after the so-called application of a 50% discount? How is it possible that the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) allows these absurdities while only 4% of the eight million RCA policies are involved in accidents each year, and damages are not being paid? Why does ASF only issue fines but tolerates the record multi-million euro profits of foreign insurers, turning a blind eye to the situation and to the lack of compensation for hundreds of thousands of claimants?,” said COTAR President Vasile Stefanescu in a press release sent on Tuesday.

COTAR maintains that most insurance companies have been using tax optimization strategies for their profits for the past 30 years, „laughing at ANAF [the National Tax Administration Agency], the Government, and the Romanian Parliament,” while Romanian citizens are the ones being burdened for the benefit of multinationals. „Insurers quietly outsource costs and shift profits abroad to pay little or no tax in Romania. In fact, Romanians now pay more for RCA than drivers in Germany, and the profits are funneled to tax havens or parent companies outside the country,” the press release highlights.

The organization also notes that insurers in Romania report the highest administrative expenses in the EU. Practically, out of every RON 100 collected in RCA premiums, RON 56 go to administrative costs, while the companies claim losses and pay little or no tax. „A comparison between countries, based on data published by EIOPA (European Insurance Overview, 2021), shows that Romania recorded the highest median expense ratio among insurance companies, at 56% in 2020,” the document explains.

Conversely, there are EU countries where the administrative expense ratio is four times lower – for example, Luxembourg, with a median ratio of just 14%.

„Insurance companies in Romania pay the lowest compensation costs in the EU relative to the value of RCA premiums collected – only 37%. This percentage includes all forms of compensation: bodily injuries, non-vehicle property, foreign or maritime damages, etc. In other words, for every RON 100 paid by Romanian drivers, only RON 37 go to actual claims,” the release adds.

The release also cites the European Insurance Overview – 2021 report, which found that in 2020 Romania had the lowest median claims ratio among all EU countries – the ratio of claims paid to premiums earned in general insurance.

Moreover, COTAR argues that the fines issued to insurers are insignificant compared to the vast sums they collect from RCA policy sales.

The organization provided a case study of a vehicle that had the same owner, address, and claim history (maximum bonus class – B8) between 2021 and 2025. In 2021, the 12-month RCA cost RON 358; by 2025, it had risen steadily to RON 1,240.

„This alarming increase of nearly 300% in five years – with a doubling in 2024 – occurred without any valid economic justification, and in the absence of accidents or changes in the insurer’s risk profile. Since the beginning of 2025, RCA prices have continued to rise, unjustifiably. The government cannot keep turning a blind eye to ASF’s complicity in the insurers’ abuses,” COTAR stated.

In this context, transporters are once again calling for the urgent dismissal of ASF Vice President Sorin Mititelu, the launch of investigations by relevant authorities (including the National Anticorruption Directorate – DNA) into the abusive RCA price hikes, and a reorganization of ASF, with the insurance sector placed under the authority of the Ministry of Finance.

AGERPRES