Car insurance with a high malus in Belgium: which cover to pick

A malus does not make you uninsurable. Compulsory third-party liability cover can always be found, if necessary through the Bureau de Tarification. What you lose is comfort: comprehensive cover becomes selective, the excess goes up and the exclusions weigh more than they do at a bonus degree.

Which degree makes you a driver with a malus?

Any degree above the neutral point of the scale, where the premium equals 100% of the reference rate. On the historical 0 to 22 grid, those are degrees 15 to 22.

Since 2004, Belgian law no longer imposes a scale. Each insurer publishes its own, with its own steps, caps and sometimes a protected bonus. The table below reproduces a commonly cited public grid, as an order of magnitude and not as any company's tariff.

Your degree appears on your claims history certificate, covered in our article on the claims history certificate. How degrees go up and down is explained in the bonus-malus guide.

Four doors to try when you have a malus

Most drivers with a malus try only the first one. They do not lead to the same contract.

An independent broker approaches several companies on your behalf, which matters when every refusal must be kept in writing. Broker status is covered in the article on the independent broker.

The Bureau de Tarification, read from its official form

I never recommend a route without reading the conditions around it, and the Bureau's fit in a short form.

The application form published by the Bureau de Tarification sets precise rules:

• three refusals from insurers consulted for motor third-party liability, or three offers whose premium or excess exceeds a threshold defined by royal decree;
• refusal certificates less than two months old each;
• a cancellation letter that does not count as a refusal;
• for each regular driver, a claims history and claims certificate covering five years, except for a new driver;
• a front and back copy of the driving licence;
• a contract concluded for one year.

The Bureau has one month from the complete file to make a price offer. For a renewal, the file must reach it at least five weeks before expiry, otherwise it is treated as a first application. A Belgian comparison site states that the premium can reach five times the lowest on the market; the form itself does not give the threshold figure.

The scheme is far from marginal. According to a Meilleurtaux article on the subject, the Bureau took over more than 23,500 vehicles in 2024, about 0.13% of the Belgian fleet. It is run by the Belgian Common Guarantee Fund, which also compensates victims when an insurer fails.

Comprehensive cover with a malus: what changes in the contract

The Bureau only gives you third-party liability. For your own car, the company stays free.

Comprehensive cover offered at a high degree often comes with a heavier excess, sometimes proportional or of the English type, badly explained almost everywhere. Our article on the English excess shows how a threshold can wipe out a payout. The comparison of mini-omnium and full omnium remains the basis for deciding.

A fictional example to fix ideas. With a reference premium of 600 euros, degree 17 at 117% gives 702 euros; degree 22 at 200% gives 1,200 euros. If comprehensive cover adds 350 euros a year and the car is worth 4,000 euros, protection costs nearly 9% of its value every year. The question is no longer whether omnium is allowed but whether it still makes sense, which our analysis of market, agreed and new-for-old value details.

Hiding a claim to lower your premium: the wrong calculation

The temptation exists: leave out last year's accident to get a milder degree. It almost always costs more than it earns.

The insurer asks about earlier claims, refusals and cancellations. An inaccurate answer given in good faith reduces the payout in proportion to the premium avoided. A deliberately misleading answer can void the contract and leave you without cover at the worst moment. The article on false declaration details the line between the two. Even compulsory liability cover is not always enforceable against you: the victim stays protected, but the insurer can turn against you.

So declare exactly, then negotiate on what is truly negotiable: excess, formula, annual payment, declared driver.

Six lines to check on a quote for a driver with a malus

A quote that looks cheaper can hide emptied cover. Open the specific conditions and check:

1. The degree applied, compared with the one on your claims history certificate;
2. the comprehensive excess, fixed, proportional or English, and its exact amount;
3. the guarantees actually included in the named formula, because "mini" does not mean the same thing everywhere;
4. the exclusions: undeclared driver, usage, sole-driver clause;
5. the duration and renewal, one year for a contract obtained through the Bureau;
6. the insured value and the basis of compensation, which decide what you receive after a claim.

Also keep every refusal in writing. If you ever need the Bureau, those documents make the file. For the next step, the article on renegotiation says when to take control again, usually after one or two years of driving without an at-fault claim.

To set formulas side by side, the comparison tool aligns the guarantees, the ranking of the best car insurance details what each company covers and refuses, and the quiz helps set the level of cover you need. Belgian motor contracts fall under the law of 4 April 2014 on insurance. In a dispute with an insurer, the Insurance Ombudsman reviews complaints free of charge, and the FSMA, the Belgian financial regulator, supervises the conduct rules of insurers and intermediaries. The Bureau de Tarification website describes the procedure and opens the online application.

This site informs and compares. It is not an insurance intermediary and gives no individual recommendation.