The bonus-malus system for third-party car insurance should kick in from February 2027, says Plamen Danailov, deputy chair of the Financial Supervision Commission. He spoke on the BNT show "Govori Sega".
Rules for the system were approved in late August, but it will take time to get it working in practice, Danailov explained.
Each insurer will set its own pricing and claims-history rules, and companies must make them public. The system tracks a driver's real claims record — how they drive and what accidents they've caused. Some EU countries have run such systems for decades, looking back at claims from up to 10 years ago when setting terms.
Danailov pushed back on claims that the system will only push prices up with no discounts. He says it's unrealistic to expect third-party insurance to get cheaper for every driver, but insurers will compete harder for safe drivers, adjusting their terms to win them over. Letting the state set prices would be the wrong approach, he added.
Changes to the Insurance Code will speed up payouts to accident victims through the Guarantee Fund. The old process was slow and clunky; the new rules aim to get people paid faster, Danailov said. The rules themselves aren't changing much, he added, and the Guarantee Fund changes shouldn't push up the price of third-party insurance for now.