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Car Insurance - do I need legal proof of address?
Does anyone know if I need legal proof of address to buy car insurance?
I’ve been living in Brussels for three weeks, have applied for my ID card, but obviously don’t have it yet, or Annex 15 or Annex 19. I visited my bank, ING for a quotation for car insurance, but was told they couldn’t even give me a quotation without legal proof of address (a copy of my rental contract is not considered as legal proof). After my visit, I phoned the ING branch where I opened my Belgian account and asked them if this was correct. After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing they confirmed that they couldn’t give me a quotation without a Belgian ID card or Annex 15 or Annex 19. This could take several months to get.
However, I got several quotes on the internet and it looks like I could complete these. They are supposed to be fully comp. and ranged from 620 to 1,300 euros for insuring a four year old VW Golf GTI (I’m sixty, have a six years no-claims and no speeding tickets.
So – can I go ahead and buy a car and insure it online, or will I be breaking some Belgian law? Or will the internet insurance purchase fail – will they ask me for my Belgian ID details later in the process?
When I was in the same situation some years ago, ING suggested that it would be possible to obtain insurance through a broker, in other words, the "official address" rule was one imposed by ING's (now independent) insurance arm.
However, there is a much bigger problem, although you can go ahead and actually buy a car, you won't be able to register it with the DIV (and thus be able to use it or even keep it on a road) until you have an official address in Belgium. You won't have to wait until you have an actual eID card, the DIV will accept a certificate of residence, an official form issued by the commune, but you may well have to wait some time before the commune is able to issue one. The delay isn't down to them but to the Bureau des Etrangers in Bruxelles. I had to wait some two and a half months despite, being an EU citizen who had reached the age of 65, having an absolute right of residence in Belgium. If you only have a discretionary right, based on your financial resources for example, the wait could be longer.
Regrettably there is very little you can do in Belgium until you have an official residence recorded at the Commune House and an ID card. As Becasse says a form from the commune should do.
