Uninsured Vehicles Risk Thousands in Fines, Officials Warn

"A registered vehicle must always be insured." Tamperelainen reports. The Traffic Insurance Centre warns that leaving a registered vehicle uninsured for long can trigger penalties that may exceed ten thousand euros, though most uninsured spells last only a few days and carry payments under 100 euros.

Tamperelainen notes that in 2025 uninsured charges were issued to around 32,000 vehicles, with more than half uninsured for no longer than a week; for these, the typical minimum is 70 euros for a short uninsured period for a passenger car. The centre adds that the final sum depends on risk calculations by vehicle category and that insurer bonuses do not apply; the charge follows the same rules for all.

The largest penalties come from vehicles uninsured for long periods; last year 300 vehicles accumulated more than 5,000 euros in charges, and almost two-thirds of the biggest fines targeted motorcycles, which often have higher insurance costs than cars. The majority of charges, however, are under 500 euros. Korhonen, head of debt collection at the Traffic Insurance Centre, explains that large bills often stem from ignorance that a registered vehicle must be insured even if it sits in a garage awaiting repairs; in such cases, it can be wise to deactivate the vehicle from road use to stop the insurance obligation. The centre notes that insurance is most commonly missing for passenger cars, with trailers and light vans following; a mnemonic is the license plate rule: if a vehicle has a plate, it must be insured. Some unplated vehicles still fall under the obligation; there is a 25-kg weight or 25 km/h speed threshold: if the motorised vehicle exceeds either, it must be insured.