The obligation to have insurance coverage for electric scooters comes into effect on 16 July, a change provided for by the new Highway Code launched at the end of 2024 which will affect 1 million private owners.
The coverage covers damage to third parties caused while riding the scooter, such as injuries to pedestrians or cyclists or damage to other vehicles, but a generic householder’s liability insurance policy will not be sufficient, warns the consumer association Assoutenti. In fact, in order to have legal validity, the compulsory scooter policy must include the code of the vehicle’s identification mark, which effectively excludes generic family policies. Furthermore, there will not be, at least for the first two years, the direct compensation system. Since this is a completely new case, the Mimit circular of 24 April establishes two years to monitor the trend of the actual costs of compensation for accidents caused by scooters, in order to construct a specific lump sum on a national basis. To this end, Ivass will have to inform the Ministry every six months about the trend of claims occurring after the insurance obligation came into force. In the meantime, the ordinary compensation procedure will be applied for road accidents caused by scooters.
The insurance will entail an annual expense of around 50 million euros, considering that the average cost of a basic policy is between 35 and 55 euros, but can reach 150 euros per year if additional guarantees are added, the association calculates. For those who do not comply, fines range from 100 to 400 euros, at least on paper: «The real problem is that the wild west still reigns in the scooter sector – says president Gabriele Melluso – New legal obligations are imposed but in our cities it is still not possible to enforce the most basic rules of the Highway Code, such as the use of helmets or the ban on riding two people on scooters. This is because the controls by the police are completely insufficient. We also invite the government to exercise maximum vigilance, in order to avoid that the new obligation lends itself to speculation and above all to territorial discrimination.”
Clear differences at local level emerge from fines on speed cameras. Calculations by Codacons upon the entry into force of the new regulations on the approval of devices indicate revenues of over 300 million euros for the large Italian cities in the last 5 years. However, the 86 million in Florence and the 52 million in Milan are contrasted with the 59,000 euros or just over in Naples. (HANDLE).