# Court of Justice of the EU: insurance law judgments 1996–2026

URL: https://insurancelawestonia.ee/court-of-justice-eu/
Author: Dr Olavi-Jüri Luik, Partner, Head of Insurance Law, attorney at law (Advokaadibüroo WIDEN OÜ)
Last updated: 2026-11-08

> 100 insurance law judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU, 1996–2026: motor insurance, jurisdiction, applicable law, consumers, tax. EUR-Lex links.

**In short.** This overview brings together 100 judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) that matter for insurance law: compulsory motor third party liability insurance, jurisdiction and applicable law in insurance matters, information duties and consumer protection in insurance contracts, insurance distribution, legal expenses insurance, supervision and the taxation of insurance. It is written for insurers, MGAs, brokers, coverage counsel and claims handlers dealing with Estonian and cross-border risks. Judgments are grouped into 11 topics and listed chronologically within each topic. Each topic opens with a short synthesis; the summaries are written in our own words and do not replace reading the judgment.

## How to use this overview

- **Citation.** Judgments are cited as "CJEU 04.09.2014, C-162/13, Vnuk": date, case number and short name. For joined cases all numbers are given. Each entry shows the ECLI, the formation of the Court and the paragraphs reflected in the summary.
- **Preliminary rulings.** All judgments in this overview are preliminary rulings: a national court asked the Court of Justice to interpret EU law, and the dispute was then decided by the national court. The interpretation given by the Court of Justice must also be followed by Estonian courts when they apply the same provision of EU law.
- **Temporal application.** The judgments interpret the directives and regulations in force at the time. Several have since been codified or amended (for example the Motor Insurance Directive 2009/103/EC as amended by Directive (EU) 2021/2118, the Brussels I Regulation No 44/2001 and its recast Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012, the Insurance Mediation Directive 2002/92/EC and the Insurance Distribution Directive (EU) 2016/97). The current version and the Estonian implementing act should be checked before relying on a judgment.
- **Link to Estonian law.** References to Estonian law in the summaries and syntheses are our analytical conclusions; the current wording of Estonian provisions should be checked in the State Gazette (Riigi Teataja).
- **Links** lead to the English text on EUR-Lex and to the Court's CURIA database. One judgment (C-393/20) is not available in English on EUR-Lex; the link leads to the French text.
- **Selection and verification.** The overview is not a complete list of the Court's insurance case law. The selection was made from InfoCuria and EUR-Lex searches, preferring judgments of practical relevance for insurers, policyholders and injured parties dealing with Estonia. The date, ECLI, formation and paragraphs of every judgment were verified on EUR-Lex on 8 November 2026.

## Topics

The judgments are presented on 11 topic pages. Each page opens with a synthesis and then lists the judgments chronologically.

1. **[Motor insurance: vehicle, use of vehicles and the duty to insure](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/court-of-justice-eu/mtpl-vehicle-and-use-of-vehicles)** (10 judgments). The Court of Justice has defined the scope of compulsory motor third party liability (MTPL) insurance mainly through the concept of 'use of vehicles'.
2. **[Motor insurance: victim protection, insurer defences and national liability law](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/court-of-justice-eu/mtpl-victim-protection-and-insurer-defences)** (12 judgments). The Court has consistently held that compulsory MTPL must protect the victim even where the insurer has contractual defences against the policyholder or the driver.
3. **[Motor insurance: recoverable loss, minimum cover and direct claims](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/court-of-justice-eu/mtpl-recoverable-loss-and-minimum-cover)** (8 judgments). Compulsory insurance covers the loss that the applicable liability law recognises, including non-material damage of close relatives where national law provides for it (Haasová, Drozdovs).
4. **[Cross-border claims, representatives, guarantee bodies and effect of the Directive](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/court-of-justice-eu/cross-border-claims-and-guarantee-bodies)** (6 judgments). These judgments concern the powers of foreign insurers' representatives, the obligations of guarantee bodies and the effect of the Directive in disputes between private parties.
5. **[Jurisdiction in insurance matters](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/court-of-justice-eu/jurisdiction-in-insurance-matters)** (17 judgments). Section 3 of Chapter II of the Brussels Ibis Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 (Articles 10 to 16; formerly Articles 8 to 14 of Regulation No 44/2001 and Articles 7 to 12a of the Brussels Convention) protects the weaker party: the policyholder, the insured, the beneficiary and the injured party.
6. **[Applicable law, recognition of judgments and recourse between insurers](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/court-of-justice-eu/applicable-law-recognition-and-recourse)** (8 judgments). The Motor Insurance Directive contains no conflict-of-laws rules.
7. **[Insurance contract, information duties and consumer protection](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/court-of-justice-eu/insurance-contract-information-and-consumer-protection)** (12 judgments). In contract law the Court of Justice complements the Estonian Supreme Court's case law in three directions.
8. **[Insurance mediation and distribution](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/court-of-justice-eu/insurance-distribution)** (3 judgments). The Court interprets insurance mediation broadly: preparatory work for the conclusion of a contract is mediation even without the intention to conclude it (Länsförsäkringar), and an undertaking that offers customers, for a fee, membership of a group policy it has taken out is an insurance intermediary and distributor (TC Medical).
9. **[Legal expenses insurance](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/court-of-justice-eu/legal-expenses-insurance)** (6 judgments). The core guarantee in legal expenses insurance is the insured's free choice of lawyer (formerly Article 4 of Directive 87/344/EEC, now Article 201 of Solvency II).
10. **[Supervision, insolvency, competition and other insurance issues](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/court-of-justice-eu/supervision-insolvency-and-competition)** (7 judgments). In the single insurance market, the home Member State's supervisor is primarily responsible for an insurer; the host authority may intervene through the cooperation procedure or in an emergency (Onix Asigurări, NOVIS).
11. **[Insurance, VAT and insurance premium taxes](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/court-of-justice-eu/insurance-and-taxation)** (11 judgments). The VAT Directive 2006/112/EC (formerly the Sixth Directive 77/388/EEC) exempts insurance and reinsurance transactions and related services performed by insurance brokers and agents (Article 135(1)(a)).

## Related pages

- [Insurance case law](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/case-law)
- [Supreme Court of Estonia: insurance case law](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/supreme-court)
- [International insurance case law](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/international-insurance-case-law)
- [Insurance law principles and theories](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/estonian-insurance-contract-law/principles-and-theories)
- [MTPL and Green Card claims](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/guides/mtpl-green-card-claims)
- [Estonian insurance contract law](https://insurancelawestonia.ee/estonian-insurance-contract-law)