Motor Guarantee Fund Belgium: when does it pay?

You are knocked down by a car that drives on, or by a driver without insurance. Who then pays for your loss? In Belgium, there is a safety net for these cases: the Motor Guarantee Fund (Fonds commun de garantie automobile), also known as the Belgian Common Guarantee Fund (Fonds commun de garantie belge).

The Fund steps in when no insurer pays for the loss. But it does not pay for everything, and a strict deadline applies. In this article, you will find out when you can call on the Fund, which loss it compensates, how to make a claim and how it differs from the scheme for vulnerable road users. It is part of our overview road accident: what to do and who is liable?.

What is the Motor Guarantee Fund?

The Fund is a body financed by all insurers offering motor liability insurance in Belgium. Its task is set out in the Act of 21 November 1989 on compulsory motor vehicle liability insurance, the Motor Insurance Act (loi RC auto), above all in Article 19bis-11. The Fund takes the place of a liable party who has no insurance or who is not known.

The Fund compensates, as it were, on behalf of the liable party. It must therefore be established that a motor vehicle caused the accident and that you are not liable yourself.

When does the Fund step in?

The main situations are the following:

The person responsible is unknown. The driver drove on and the vehicle could not be identified, for example after a hit and run.
The vehicle was not insured. The compulsory liability insurance was missing or suspended. See our article on driving without insurance.
The vehicle had been stolen. The owner’s insurer does not have to cover the loss caused by a thief; the Fund covers it.
The insurer is insolvent, for example after a bankruptcy.
An unforeseeable event (force majeure). The driver who caused the accident is not liable, because they could not avoid it, for example because of a sudden loss of consciousness.

The Fund does not step in for vandalism, theft of items from your car, a collision with game as regards your own loss, or an accident involving only pedestrians or cyclists.

Which loss does the Fund compensate?

Situation	Personal injury	Material damage
Person responsible unknown	Yes	Only where there is significant injury
Uninsured vehicle	Yes	Yes
Stolen vehicle	Yes	Yes, but not for the owner of the stolen vehicle
Insolvent insurer	Yes	Yes
Unforeseeable event	Yes	In principle no

Person responsible unknown: significant physical injury

If the person responsible is unknown, the basic rule is that only personal injury is compensated: medical costs, loss of income, incapacity, pain and suffering, and non-material loss. Damage to your car or bicycle is in principle excluded.

This rule has an important exception. If someone suffered significant physical injury in the same accident, the Fund also compensates material damage. According to the Fund, these are injuries that led to:

the death of the victim;
temporary incapacity of at least 30 days;
permanent disability of at least 15%;
a hospital stay of at least seven days.

An excess on material damage, as used to exist, no longer applies to accidents that happened on or after 19 January 2003.

How personal injury is calculated is explained in our article on compensation after a road accident.

What is the deadline for claiming from the Motor Guarantee Fund?

You must make your claim within five years of the day of the accident. The Fund treats this period as a strict time bar: it cannot be suspended or interrupted, not even by negotiations or ongoing criminal proceedings. If you are late, you lose your right.

Moreover, the later you come forward, the harder it becomes to prove that an unknown vehicle caused the accident.

How do you make a claim?

Report the accident to the police immediately. Especially if the person responsible is unknown, a police report (procès-verbal) drawn up shortly after the events is often the most important evidence that another vehicle was involved.
Gather your evidence: photos, names of witnesses, camera footage, medical certificates and invoices.
Report the accident to the Fund. You can do so by email, by post, via the Fund’s website or by registered letter. Only a registered letter proves with certainty on what date you sent your claim.
Follow up your file. The Fund examines whether it must step in and may arrange a medical examination.

If you disagree with the decision or with the amount offered, you can summon the Fund before the court. It is the police court (tribunal de police) that rules on compensation after a road accident.

Recovery from the owner of an uninsured vehicle

Putting a vehicle on the road without insurance exposes you to far more than a penalty. If the Fund has compensated the victims of an uninsured vehicle, it can recover the full amount from the owner of that vehicle (Article 19bis-14, §5 of the Motor Insurance Act). For accidents that happened on or after 22 June 2017, this recovery is directed at the owner, according to the Fund.

That owner also cannot pass the amount on to the driver, even if the driver caused the accident and knew there was no insurance. This is only different for an accident caused intentionally. In its judgment no. 136/2025 of 23 October 2025, the Constitutional Court ruled that this scheme does not breach the right to property: the obligation to insure lies first and foremost with the owner.

Nor can the owner of the uninsured vehicle obtain compensation from the Fund for their own loss.

The difference from Article 29bis

The Fund and Article 29bis of the Motor Insurance Act are often confused. Yet they have a different purpose.

Question	Article 29bis Motor Insurance Act	Motor Guarantee Fund
For whom?	Pedestrians, cyclists, passengers	Any victim who is not liable
Who pays?	The insurer of the motor vehicle involved	The Fund, if there is no insurer
Fault required?	No	Yes, of the unknown or uninsured driver, or an unforeseeable event
Which loss?	Personal injury and clothing	Depends on the situation (see the table above)

The two schemes can be combined. If a cyclist is knocked down by a car that drives on, there is no insurer to pay the 29bis compensation. The Fund then takes over that role. To find out more about the scheme for vulnerable road users, read our article on Article 29bis.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Motor Guarantee Fund pay for damage to my car after a hit and run?

In principle, no. If the person responsible is unknown, the Fund only compensates personal injury. Damage to your car is only compensated if someone suffered significant injury in the same accident, such as a hospital stay of at least seven days. For damage to your car, you can generally only turn to your own comprehensive insurance (omnium). Also read our article on parking damage and hit and run.

How long do I have to claim from the Fund?

You must make your claim within five years of the day of the accident. The Fund considers this to be a time bar, which cannot be suspended or interrupted. Preferably send your claim by registered post, so that you can prove the date. Do not wait too long: the sooner you come forward, the easier it is to prove the facts.

What if I was knocked down by an uninsured driver?

In that case, the Fund compensates your loss, both personal injury and material damage, as the insurer should have done. Always have the findings made by the police, to establish who the driver and the owner were and that there was no insurance. The Fund then recovers the amount from the owner of the uninsured vehicle.

Do I need a police report to claim from the Fund?

The Fund must be convinced that a motor vehicle caused the accident. A police report drawn up shortly after the events is the strongest evidence of that, especially if the person responsible is unknown. So always report the accident to the police as quickly as possible. Without a police report, it is much harder to get your claim accepted.

I own an uninsured car. Can the Fund claim everything from me?

Yes. The Fund can claim from you the full amount it paid to the victims, even if someone else was driving your car. You cannot recover that amount from the driver, unless the accident was caused intentionally. The Constitutional Court confirmed this in 2025. Have it checked whether the insurance was in fact properly suspended.

Have your case reviewed

Were you knocked down by an unknown or uninsured driver, or is the Fund claiming an amount from you? We examine your situation and support you with your claim or your defence. Contact us. Also read our article on hit and run, compensation and the insurer.

Law as at 30 September 2026. We update this article when the rules change.

Motor Guarantee Fund in Belgium: when does the Fund pay?