Claims representatives in motor vehicle liability insurance

(1) For the authorisation to cover the risks named in Annex 1, point 10, letter a, the insurance undertaking must appoint a claims representative in every other member state or contracting state. On behalf of the insurance undertaking, that representative must handle and settle claims for compensation for personal injury and property damage arising from an accident that occurred in a member state or contracting state other than the injured party's member state of residence, and that was caused by the use of a vehicle insured in, and normally based in, a member state or contracting state.
(2) The appointment of each claims representative must be notified to the supervisory authority without delay, attaching the documents named in section 9(4), point 6.
(3) The claims representative must be resident or established in the state for which he or she is appointed. He or she may act for the account of one or more insurance undertakings. He or she must have sufficient powers to represent the insurance undertaking vis-à-vis injured parties and to satisfy their claims for compensation in full. He or she must be able to handle the case in the official language, or official languages, of the state for which he or she is appointed.
(4) In connection with claims caused by a vehicle insured with that undertaking, the claims representative must gather all information necessary for their settlement. Where the accident occurred in a third country, this applies only where
1. the injured party is resident in a member state or contracting state,
2. the vehicle that caused the accident is normally based in one of those states, and
3. the national insurance bureau within the meaning of Article 1, point 3, of Directive 2009/103/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles, and the enforcement of the obligation to insure against such liability (OJ L 263, 7.10.2009, p. 11), of the state in which the accident occurred has acceded to the Green Card system. In that case, section 3a of the Compulsory Insurance Act applies correspondingly.
(5) The appointment of a claims representative domestically by a foreign insurance undertaking does not, in itself, constitute the establishment of a branch; the claims representative is not regarded as a branch.