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Which vehicles must have motor third party liability insurance?

As a general rule, all motor vehicles used in traffic must have motor third party liability (MTPL) insurance. The vehicles must have MTPL insurance regardless of whether they are registered in the Swedish Road Traffic Registry or not and regardless of whether they are Swedish or foreign.

The MTPL insurance requirement also applies to motor driven vehicles that may not be used in traffic. This refers for example to a passenger car prohibited from being driven or a vehicle notified as off road that must have MTPL insurance if it is used. The rules are to protect anyone who is injured or has property destroyed by the vehicles.

The Motor Traffic Damage Act specifies when a motor driven vehicle must have MTPL insurance and when it does not need to be insured. 

The Swedish Motor Traffic Damage Act

There are motor driven vehicle that do not need MTPL insurance. You can read more on the exceptions further down the page. 

Your responsibility as owner, driver or holder

What applies to your vehicle depends on the type of motor driven vehicle you have and the vehicle’s area of use. If you own or use a vehicle you are obliged to find out what applies.

The Swedish Transport Agency provides information on what a vehicle is and how we define different types of vehicle in Sweden. Examples of types of vehicle are bicycle, passenger car or motorcycle.

Swedish Transport Agency website

Remember that your vehicle must have MTPL insurance even when you take it outside Sweden. This applies to all countries in the Green Card system. You must check what applies in the country you are to visit.

More about the Green Card

Examples of vehicles that must have motor third party liability insurance

Passenger cars

Lorries

Buses

Motorcycles

Mopeds and moped cars

Class 1 mopeds (EU mopeds and moped cars) must have MTPL insurance. These mopeds must be registered with the Swedish Transport Agency and have a registration plate.

Class II mopeds do not need to be registered and therefore have no registration plate. However, you must have MTPL insurance when using the moped. As driver you must carry a certificate of insurance with you, otherwise you risk a fine.

Electric scooters and other light electric vehicle

MTPL insurance is compulsory for many electric scooters and some other light electric vehicles. It is the speed and weight that determine whether the vehicle should be insured. It is you who owns the vehicle who must take out the insurance. And you must always have the insurance certificate with you when you travel with the vehicle.

Vehicles with these properties must have MTPL insurance:

  • Electric powered vehicles without pedals or cranking device, if the vehicle is designed to go faster than 20 kilometres per hour.
  • Electric powered vehicles without pedals or cranking device, if the vehicle is designed to go faster than 14 kilometres per hour and weighs more than 25 kilos.

Examples of vehicles with these properties are electric scooters, electric kickbikes or self-balancing vehicles.

If you are uncertain as to the type of electric powered vehicle you have, you can contact the retailer.

More information about motor third party liability insurance 

Electric bicycles

An electric bicycle that is a bicycle does not need MTPL insurance.

An electric bicycle with an electric motor that continues to give assistance when you exceed 25 kilometres per hour is no longer a bicycle, and in that case it must have MTPL insurance if it is used. The same applies if the electric bicycle’s motor has a continuous power rating of more than 250 watts.

If you do not know how your electric bicycle is classified, ask the seller.

You can find more information on electric bicycles at the Swedish Transport Agency.

Swedish Transport Agency website

More information about motor third party liability insurance 

Tractors

A-tractors

“Quad bikes”/ATVs

Snow scooters

Garden tractors or ride-on lawn mowers with towing hook or eye

All motor powered, self-propelled vehicles controlled by a driver and designed for speeds of more than 30 kilometres per hour or weighing more than 2,000 kilos, must have MTPL insurance.

All motorised equipment that weighs a maximum of 2,000 kilos and has a transport function must also have MTPL insurance. Motorised equipment having a transport function means that it is manufactured or used for transporting goods or people to a large extent. 

Motorised equipment that has a transport function is designed with any of these properties:

  • It has for example a platform, bucket, fork or trough.
  • It has a tank and is intended to be driven on land with its load.
  • It has a towing function (towing hook).
  • It has more seats than the driving seat and operating seat.
  • With a driver the motor vehicle can be transported on routes other than solely within or between working areas

Thus motorised equipment must have MTPL insurance if it is designed with any of the properties on the list. The sole fact that given its design and fuel the motor vehicle can be moved, or a person can drive and manoeuvre it, does not mean that the motor vehicle must have MTPL insurance.

There is lighter motorised equipment that does not have to have MTPL insurance.

More information about motor third party liability insurance

Email us if you are unsure whether your motorised equipment is obliged to have MTPL insurance or not.

Trucks

All motor powered, self-propelled vehicles controlled by a driver and designed for speeds of more than 30 kilometres per hour or weighing more than 2,000 kilos, must have MTPL insurance.

All motorised equipment that weighs a maximum of 2,000 kilos and has a transport function must also have MTPL insurance. Motorised equipment having a transport function means that it is manufactured or used for transporting goods or people to a large extent.

Motorised equipment that has a transport function is designed with any of these properties:

  • It has for example a platform, bucket, fork or trough.
  • It has a tank and is intended to be driven on land with its load.
  • It has a towing function (towing hook).
  • It has more seats than the driving seat and operating seat.
  • With a driver the motor vehicle can be transported on routes other than solely within or between working areas.

Thus motorised equipment must have MTPL insurance if it is designed with any of the properties on the list. The sole fact that given its design and fuel the motor vehicle can be moved, or a person can drive and manoeuvre it, does not mean that the motor vehicle must have MTPL insurance.

There is lighter motorised equipment that does not need to have MTPL insurance.

Email us if you are unsure whether your motorised equipment is obliged to have MTPL insurance or not.

Vehicles that do not need motor third party liability insurance

There are motor driven vehicles that do not need to have motor third party liability insurance. Here are examples of such vehicles:

  • Motor driven vehicles that are notified as off road in the Swedish Road Traffic Registry. As long as you do not use a vehicle that is notified as off road, it does not need to have motor third party liability insurance.
  • Motor driven vehicles that can be classified as handicap vehicles, for example an electric powered wheelchair.
  • Motor vehicles intended for use by people walking, such as motor mowers, snow blowers or garden cultivators.
  • Motor driven vehicles when used within an enclosed competition area for competitions, training, driving practice, display or similar. Here motor sports insurance is applicable.
  • Some motorised equipment that weighs a maximum of 2,000 kilos does not need motor third party liability insurance, but there are exceptions that you as owner need to be aware of.

    More information on what applies can be found under “Garden tractors or ride-on lawnmowers” or “Trucks” in the list of vehicles further up on this page.

    Motorised equipment subject to registration must have motor third party liability insurance regardless of the speed it is designed for.
  • A vehicle of another type that has been attached to a motor vehicle. This may be for example a caravan or trailer. Such a vehicle does not need to have motor third party liability insurance since the motor vehicle’s insurance applies to the entire vehicle combination. 

Section 1 of the Motor Traffic Damage Act specifies which vehicles do not need motor third party liability insurance.

The Swedish Motor Traffic Damage Act