Can They Take Your Driving Licence if You Are Stopped Without “Civil Liability” Insurance?

One of the frequently encountered situations in practice is the following: the driver is driving a car with registration plates affixed, is carrying a registration certificate, the car looks perfectly regular, but a check by the Ministry of Interior authorities establishes that its registration has been administratively terminated due to the lack of a valid compulsory "Civil Liability" insurance — an oversight drivers often make inadvertently.

In such cases the driver often learns of the problem only on the road — when a statement is already being drawn up against him and his licence is being taken away, or when, subsequently, a penal order with a fine and deprivation of the right to drive motor vehicles is issued.

At first sight the situation looks hopeless: the car has indeed had its registration administratively terminated. This does not automatically mean, however, that the penalty imposed is lawful.

The key question is another: did the driver know that the car’s registration had been administratively terminated, and was the owner duly notified of this?

This question is decisive, because under the law in force and the binding interpretation of the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Supreme Administrative Court, not every driving of a car with an administratively terminated registration leads automatically to a valid penalty under Art. 175, para. 3 of the Road Traffic Act.

How does the registration come to be administratively terminated?

Where there is no valid "Civil Liability" insurance, a procedure between the Guarantee Fund and the motor vehicle registration authorities is triggered.

Under Art. 574, para. 10 of the Insurance Code, the Information Centre at the Guarantee Fund notifies the owners of motor vehicles for which no compulsory "Civil Liability" insurance contract has been concluded, or whose contract has been terminated and not renewed. The owner is given a 14-day period to present evidence of a concluded and valid insurance.

After that, if no such evidence is presented, the Guarantee Fund notifies the competent authorities, and under Art. 143, para. 10 of the Road Traffic Act the car’s registration is administratively terminated. The law also provides for notification of the owner of the vehicle.

The practical problem is that in many cases the owner does not actually receive a notification and learns of the terminated registration only after a check on the road. This is not a minor formality. It is precisely the notification that matters for the assessment of whether the driver bears liability.

Usually the penal order is issued for a breach of Art. 140, para. 1 of the Road Traffic Act — driving a motor vehicle that is not registered in the prescribed manner.

The sanction is imposed on the basis of Art. 175, para. 3 of the Road Traffic Act and usually includes:

In practice, the penalty usually includes:

• a fine;
• deprivation of the right to drive motor vehicles for a period of 6 months.

It is precisely the deprivation of the right to drive motor vehicles that is the heaviest consequence for drivers. For many people the driving licence is necessary for work, business, family commitments or daily travel. That is why such a penal order must not be accepted automatically as indisputable.

An administrative violation does not consist only of an outward act. It is not enough to establish that the driver was driving a car with an administratively terminated registration. The act must have been committed with fault.

This follows from Art. 6 and Art. 7 of the Administrative Violations and Penalties Act (ZANN). Only an act committed with fault is an administrative violation.

With an administratively terminated registration due to the lack of "Civil Liability" insurance, the question of fault is particularly important. The car has registration plates, has a registration document and outwardly looks like a regularly registered vehicle. That is why it cannot automatically be assumed that the driver knew of the deregistration.

This question was resolved by Interpretative Decision No 2 of 5 April 2023 of the General Assembly of the Criminal Collegium of the Supreme Court of Cassation and of the First and Second Collegia of the Supreme Administrative Court. It holds that a driver who drives a motor vehicle whose registration has been administratively terminated under Art. 143, para. 10 of the Road Traffic Act is not punishable under Art. 175, para. 3 of the Road Traffic Act where the owner has not been notified of this.

In other words, the administrative authority must prove not only the fact of the terminated registration, but also circumstances from which it follows that the owner or the driver knew, or could have known, of it.

In the practice of the Buzgyova & Partners law firm we have won cases on precisely such matters.

In one of the cases a driver was sanctioned after a road check in which it was established that the car he was driving had an administratively terminated registration due to the lack of valid "Civil Liability" insurance. The car had its registration plates affixed, and the driver had presented registration documents.

The case file contained data about a notification sent to the owner. The decisive question, however, was whether there was evidence that the notification had been received. The court held that such evidence was lacking. It was not established that the owner had actually been notified, nor that he could have communicated this fact to the driver.

It was also relevant that the registration plates and the car’s documents had not been seized. In these circumstances there were no obvious outward signs from which the driver could have understood that the car was deregistered.

The court sets aside the penal order and awards costs in favour of the appellant.

Judgment No 101 of 6 April 2026, on the roll of the District Court of Blagoevgrad

The practical conclusion from this case is clear: the mere sending of a notification is not sufficient if it is not proved that it was received, or that the owner learned of the terminated registration.

In another won case a driver was sanctioned with a fine and deprivation of the right to drive motor vehicles for 6 months after driving his own car whose registration had been administratively terminated due to the lack of "Civil Liability" insurance.

In this case, it was established in the proceedings that no notification of the termination of the registration had been sent to the owner at all. The administrative penal authority failed to prove either notification, or knowledge obtained in another way.

The court holds that the driver acted under a factual mistake within the meaning of Art. 14 of the Penal Code in conjunction with Art. 11 of the Administrative Violations and Penalties Act — he was not aware that the car’s registration had been administratively terminated. Therefore there is no fault, and the act does not constitute a violation under Art. 175, para. 3 of the Road Traffic Act.

Judgment No 214 of 18 November 2024, on the roll of the District Court of Razlog

In both cases the courts held that administrative penal liability cannot be engaged on the assumption that the driver knew of the administrative deregistration. Knowledge must be proved.

If, during a check, a statement is drawn up against you for driving a car with an administratively terminated registration, it is important to react from the very beginning.

Check what is exactly recorded in the statement. If you did not know of the terminated registration, this must be noted. It is important for the objection to be recorded, or for a written objection to be filed within the period under the Administrative Violations and Penalties Act.

After that the following must be checked:

• whether the car is your property or is the property of another person;
• on which date the registration was terminated;
• whether the Guarantee Fund sent a notification;
• whether there is evidence of receipt of the notification;
• whether the "Road Police" notified the owner;
• whether the registration plates and the documents were seized;
• whether there is other data from which it may be argued that the driver knew of the terminated registration.

It is particularly important to watch the period for appealing the penal order. The period under Art. 59, para. 2 of the Administrative Violations and Penalties Act is short and missing it may lead to the penalty entering into force, even when there are serious grounds for setting it aside; for that reason it is advisable to contact a lawyer in good time.

An important clarification: the lack of "Civil Liability" insurance and an administratively terminated registration are not the same thing

The lack of valid "Civil Liability" insurance may lead to independent liability under the Insurance Code.

Driving a motor vehicle with an administratively terminated registration is sanctioned under the Road Traffic Act, but only where all the elements of the administrative violation are present, including fault.

That is why successfully challenging a penalty under Art. 175, para. 3 of the Road Traffic Act does not mean that the lack of "Civil Liability" insurance has no consequences at all. It means that the licence cannot automatically be taken away if it is not proved that the driver knew of the administratively terminated registration.

The administrative termination of the registration due to the lack of "Civil Liability" insurance is a serious consequence, but it does not release the administrative authority from the obligation to prove the driver’s fault.

When the driver is driving a car with registration plates and documents, without knowing that the registration has been terminated, and the owner has not been duly notified or this is not proved, the imposition of a fine and deprivation of the right to drive motor vehicles may be unlawful.

The won cases on such matters show that the courts assess not only the formal fact of the deregistration, but also whether the driver knew, or could have known, of it. This is precisely where the decisive line of defence is often to be found.

Upon receipt of a statement or a penal order for driving a car with an administratively terminated registration, it is advisable to have the case reviewed by a lawyer in good time, because the periods are short and the evidence of notification and knowledge is decisive for the outcome of the case, so do not lose time and contact us.