Insurance Law · 15.11.2024

Car Insurance Claims in Vietnam: Limits, Deadlines, Exclusions

Compulsory motor insurance in Vietnam does not insure your car. It insures your liability to the people you injure and to your passengers — and the limits, the deadlines and the exclusions are fixed by Decree No. 67/2023/ND-CP, not by the insurer’s brochure. Most claims are lost…

Lawyer UnilawReading time: 6 min

By Lawyer Nguyen Nhu Hai – UniLaw LLC

Compulsory motor insurance in Vietnam does not insure your car. It insures your liability to the people you injure and to your passengers — and the limits, the deadlines and the exclusions are fixed by Decree No. 67/2023/ND-CP, not by the insurer’s brochure. Most claims are lost on a licence, on a repair carried out too early, or on a five-day notice.

What the compulsory policy actually covers

Article 5 of Decree No. 67/2023/ND-CP defines the subject matter as the vehicle owner’s civil liability to third parties and to passengers. Article 7(1) sets the scope: non-contractual damage to the health, life and property of third parties caused by the vehicle in traffic or in operation, and damage to the health and life of passengers on that vehicle.

Damage to your own vehicle is not in this policy. That is voluntary physical damage cover, and it is governed by the policy wording plus the general rules in the Law on Insurance Business No. 08/2022/QH15.

The limits, in figures

Health and life: VND 150 million per person per accident — Article 6(1).
Property caused by a two- or three-wheeled motorcycle, a moped including an electric one, or a similar vehicle: VND 50 million per accident — Article 6(2)(a).
Property caused by a car, a tractor, or a trailer or semi-trailer drawn by one: VND 100 million per accident — Article 6(2)(b).

Article 12(8) is blunt about the rest: the insurer has no liability above those limits unless the owner also bought voluntary cover. For a commercial fleet, that gap is the reason to buy excess liability cover, not to argue about it afterwards.

Eight exclusions, and the three that decide most files

Article 7(2) lists them. The ones that actually come up:

The licence, Article 7(2)(c). Underage driver; no licence; an invalid, erased or expired licence; or a licence of the wrong class. A licence suspended for a period or revoked counts as no licence. This is the most common refusal in practice, and it is checked before anything else.
Alcohol and drugs, Article 7(2)(đ) — and read the wording: it excludes damage to property where the driver’s blood or breath alcohol exceeds the normal level under Ministry of Health guidance, or where prohibited drugs or stimulants were used. It is drafted as a property exclusion.
Indirect loss, Article 7(2)(d) — reduction in commercial value, and loss tied to the use and exploitation of the damaged property. A haulier’s lost earnings while the truck is off the road sits here.

The others: a deliberate act by the owner, the driver or the victim; a driver who flees and does not discharge the owner’s civil liability, though a driver who flees but does discharge it is not excluded; property stolen or robbed during the accident; special property such as gold, gems, negotiable papers, antiques, rare paintings, corpses and remains; and war, terrorism and earthquake.

Five clocks, and the one nobody meets

Immediately: notify the insurer’s hotline, help the injured, limit the loss and protect the scene — Article 12(1)(a).
1 hour: the insurer must guide you on safety measures and on the claim file — Article 12(2).
24 hours: the insurer must organise the loss survey to establish cause and extent — Article 12(2).
3 working days: the insurer must advance compensation for death or injury — Article 12(3).
5 working days from the accident: written or electronic notice of the accident to the insurer, unless force majeure or an objective obstacle — Article 12(4). Miss it and Article 12(7) allows a deduction of up to 5 per cent of the property compensation.
1 year from the insured event to file the claim — Article 30(1) of Law No. 08/2022/QH15. Where a third party is claiming against you, the year runs from the date of that demand — Article 30(3).

The advance payment most claimants never ask for

Article 12(3) requires the insurer, within 3 working days of being notified, to advance compensation for health and life:

Accident already established as within scope: 70 per cent of the estimated amount for death, 50 per cent for partial injury.
Scope not yet established: 30 per cent of the limit for death or for an estimated injury rate of 81 per cent or more, and 10 per cent for an estimated rate of 31 to under 81 per cent.

This is an obligation, not a gesture. If the accident later turns out to be excluded, the insurer recovers the advance from the Motor Insurance Fund, not from the family.

Do not repair the vehicle yet

Article 12(1)(b) prohibits moving, dismantling or repairing the property before the insurer agrees, except where it is necessary for safety, to limit the loss, or on the order of a competent authority. A repair done early is a quantum argument handed to the insurer.

How the figure is worked out

Health and life compensation follows the schedule in Appendix VI, or an agreement between the insured and the injured party, capped by Appendix VI — Article 12(6)(a). A court decision is also capped by it. Where several vehicles caused the accident, compensation follows each owner’s degree of fault, with the total capped by the limit. And where the competent authority finds the accident wholly the fault of a third party, third-party health and life compensation is 50 per cent of the Appendix VI figure.

Property compensation is the actual loss adjusted for the owner’s degree of fault, capped by the limit — Article 12(6)(b).

Two provisions worth knowing before you renew

Premium is not fixed. Article 8(1) sets it by Appendix I, and Article 8(2) lets the insurer move it up or down by at most 15 per cent on the vehicle’s claims history or the owner’s accident history.
Two compulsory policies on one vehicle do not double the cover. Article 12(9): only the contract signed first pays, and the insurer must refund 100 per cent of the premium on the rest. Fleets that renew through two brokers should check this.

If the insurer refuses, cuts or delays

The general statute gives the leverage. Article 19(2) of Law No. 08/2022/QH15 requires the insurer to have evidence that the exclusion it relies on was explained fully and understood when the contract was made. Article 31(1) requires payment within the agreed period or, absent agreement, within 15 days of a complete valid file, with interest on late payment under Article 31(2). Where cause or extent is disputed, Article 53(2) allows an independent surveyor, appointed by the court or the tribunal if the parties cannot agree, whose conclusion binds both parties, at the insurer’s cost under Article 53(1). Article 32 sets the route: negotiation, then mediation, arbitration or court according to the policy.

Legal basis cited above: Decree No. 67/2023/ND-CP, Articles 5, 6, 7, 8 and 12; Law on Insurance Business No. 08/2022/QH15, Articles 19, 30, 31, 32 and 53.

If an insurer has refused, cut or delayed a motor claim — see Unilaw’s insurance practice, or call +84 912266811 for a first assessment and a fee quote before any work starts.

See the rest of Vietnam insurance law for the surrounding questions.

Refused already? See the evidence an insurer must produce to justify an insurance claim denial in Vietnam.

Start here: our full guide to personal injury claims in Vietnam sets out who is liable, what each head of damage needs, the three-year deadline under Article 588 of the Civil Code, and three decided cases.