Tuesday 19/3/2024
10:21:25 am

HELLENIC INFORMATION CENTRE (HIC)

General Information on the HIC

“Article 1 of Law 3867/2010 contains a provision according which the Information Centre of article 27b of Law 489/76 is, since 01-12-2010, an organizational unit of the Insurance Guarantee Fund of Liability from Car Accidents”.

In the framework of protecting the victims of motor vehicle accidents occuring in member states other than the membner state of the victim's residence, the Europoean Union (EU) has released the EU Directive 2000/26/EK, which is known as the 4th Vehicles Directive.

Under this directive, a person injured in an accident abroad may claim compensation for material injuries or personal injuries under the law of the country of the accident, when he/she returns to the place of his/her residence, in his/her language and under procedures that he/she is familiar with.

Under the Directive, as of 20/01/2003 the member states of the EU should form a Compensation Body and an Information Centre. The same obligation applies to the 10 new members since 01/05/2004, and Bulgaria and Romania since 1/8/2007.

What the Information Centre includes

Any natural or legal person injured in a car accident and any person with a lawful interest, is entitled to request and receive the following by the information centre of the member state of his/her stay or the member state whose registration plates are borne by the vehicle or the member state where the accident happened:
■ The name and address of the insurance company
■ The number of the insurance policy
■ The name and address of the competent representative of the insurance company in Greece for the settlement of damages.

The information centre notifies the injured party of the name and address of the vehicle’s owner or the usual driver or owner, when the injured party has proven that he/she has a lawful interest in receiving this information.

Purpose

The purpose of the information centre is to provide information:
■ To injured parties residing in Greece so that they may be facilitated in claiming compensation for material injuries or personal injuries from a car accident that took place abroad, in the framework of the 4th Vehicles Directive.
■ The same obligation applies to the information centre also for the injured parties who reside in a member state of the EU and the EEA, if the accident took place in Greece or was caused by a vehicle with Greek registration plates.
■ Also the information centre may provide information for vehicles, who use Greece as a usual parking area and are involved in a car accident in Greece, in order to facilitate the lawfully interested injured parties to claim their compensation.

The information centres of EU member states co-operate with each other for the exchange of data, under the principles of the co-operation agreement they have concluded.


1, D. Aeropagitou & Makri str  Postal Code 11742 Athens Tel.: +30 210 3327490, Fax: +30 210 3327477       http://www.hic.gr,   eMail: info@hic.gr