Drink-driving accident in Spain: does insurance pay?
Agency Director | Wealth Protection & Expat Specialist
Drink-driving accident in Spain: does your car insurance pay? Who's covered, what you can be charged and what to do
A long lunch on the coast, a couple of glasses of wine and the short drive home. Then a bump at a roundabout, the Guardia Civil arrive and you fail the breath test. Beyond the fine, there's a question most expats have never had to ask: does your Spanish car insurance still pay, or does the bill land on you?
Quick answer: if you cause an accident while under the influence of alcohol in Spain, compulsory insurance still pays the victims, because the law doesn't allow them to be left uncompensated. But your insurer can then claim every euro back from you through what Spanish law calls the derecho de repetición (the right of recovery). It can pursue the driver, the owner of the vehicle and the policyholder. Damage to your own car and your own injuries will usually not be covered either, even on a fully comprehensive policy. The same applies to drugs.
In this guide:
What insurance pays and what it doesn't
The insurer's right to claim the money back
Spain's alcohol limits, fines and criminal thresholds
What happens with Allianz Auto
What to do after an accident if you've been drinking
If the other driver was drunk
FAQs
What insurance pays and what it doesn't
A Spanish car policy has two halves that behave very differently here: the part that protects other people and the part that protects you.
Compulsory third-party liability exists so that victims get paid. Spanish motor insurance law allows only a handful of exclusions against an injured party and voids any other clause. Alcohol isn't one of them: even if you fail the test, the insurer must compensate the people you harmed.
The covers that protect you depend on your contract, and driving under the influence is usually excluded.
What was damaged | Paid by insurance if you were under the influence? |
|---|---|
Other people's injuries (other drivers, pedestrians, your passengers) | Yes, but the insurer can claim it back from you |
Other vehicles or third-party property | Yes, but it can also be claimed back |
Your own injuries as the driver | Never under compulsory cover; driver accident cover usually excludes alcohol |
Your own car | Usually not: own-damage cover tends to exclude it, even when fully comprehensive |
Fines, penalty points and criminal penalties | No: those are personally yours |
It's a similar picture to having an accident with an expired ITV, with one important difference: with alcohol, the law expressly recognises the insurer's right to recover what it paid.
The insurer's right to claim the money back
Repetición means the insurer pays the victim first and then recovers the money from the person responsible. Article 10 of Spain's motor liability law allows it when the damage was due to driving under the influence of alcohol, toxic drugs, narcotics or psychotropic substances.
What you need to know:
Who can be pursued: the driver, the owner of the vehicle and the policyholder. If you lend your car to someone who then drives drunk, the claim can reach you too.
How much: whatever the insurer paid for the damage. Compulsory cover goes up to €70 million per accident for injuries and €15 million for property, so an accident with serious injuries can produce a life-changing sum.
Time limit: the insurer has one year to claim, counted from the date it paid the victim, not from the date of the accident.
A purely illustrative example: you fail the test, drift across the carriageway and injure another driver. Your insurer pays out €80,000 for compensation and repairs. Months later, a claim for that €80,000 can arrive in your name, after you've already lost your car and received nothing for your own injuries.
Two nuances worth knowing
The damage must be due to that driving. The law refers to damage "due to" driving under the influence, so the circumstances of the accident matter. If you receive a claim, have a lawyer review the police report (atestado) and the evidence.
Limiting clauses must stand out. Spain's Insurance Contract Act requires clauses that limit your rights to be specially highlighted and specifically accepted in writing. This can matter for voluntary covers such as own damage. It doesn't affect the right of recovery under the compulsory insurance law, which doesn't depend on what you signed.
Spain's alcohol limits, fines and criminal thresholds
These are the current figures published by Spain's traffic authority, the DGT. Lowering the general limit to 0.2 g/l has been debated, but that reform has not been approved.
Driver | Blood alcohol | Breath alcohol |
|---|---|---|
General | 0.5 g/l | 0.25 mg/l |
Professional | 0.3 g/l | 0.15 mg/l |
Newly qualified | 0.3 g/l | 0.15 mg/l |
Under 18 | 0.0 g/l | 0.0 mg/l |
If you learned to drive in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, Spain is stricter: the limit there is 35 micrograms per 100 ml of breath, equivalent to 0.35 mg/l. Scotland's, at 22 micrograms, is equivalent to 0.22 mg/l.
Over the general limit, the administrative penalties are:
Over 0.25 and up to 0.50 mg/l: €500 and 4 points.
Over 0.50 mg/l: €1,000 and 6 points.
Repeat offenders: €1,000 and 4 or 6 points, depending on the reading.
Above 0.60 mg/l in breath (1.2 g/l in blood) it's a criminal offence. Penalties are three to six months in prison, a six to twelve month fine or community service, plus a driving ban of one to four years.
Refusing the test is no way out: it's also a criminal offence, with six months to a year in prison and a driving ban of one to four years.
What happens with Allianz Auto
Every insurer's wording is different, so it's worth reading yours. With Allianz Auto:
Compulsory third-party liability: injured third parties are compensated, and Allianz can recover the sums from the driver and/or the owner.
Own damage: excluded when driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Collisions with animals too.
Driver accident cover: excluded in the same cases.
Legal defence: excluded in the same cases, so you'd be paying your own lawyer.
Traffic-fine assistance (optional cover): doesn't include alcohol or drug offences.
Leaving someone injured at the scene without helping is also excluded as far as the person committing that offence is concerned, so driving off only makes things worse.
If you're not sure what your policy says, even if it's with another company, you can bring it to our office in the centre of Murcia or send it over on WhatsApp and we'll go through it with you, in English.
What to do after an accident if you've been drinking
Don't leave. Stop somewhere safe and signal the accident.
Help anyone injured and call 112. The emergency number works in English.
Cooperate with the officers and take any tests you're asked to. Refusing is a crime.
Don't get back behind the wheel. If your car is immobilised, ask someone for help or take a taxi.
Tell your insurer within 7 days at most. That's the legal limit, unless your policy allows longer. Give an accurate account.
Keep every document: police report, court summons, medical reports and anything from your insurer.
Get legal advice quickly, especially if anyone was hurt or criminal proceedings are possible, and ask for an English-speaking lawyer if you need one.
Don't sign an acknowledgement of debt or agree a payment plan without a lawyer checking it first. For the general steps at the scene, see what to do after a car accident in Spain.
If the other driver was drunk
If you've been hit by someone who'd been drinking, you don't lose your right to compensation: their insurer must pay you, and their positive test only affects the relationship between them and their insurer.
Call the police if you suspect they've been drinking. The atestado will record the test and the circumstances.
Collect details, witnesses and photos, and see a doctor even for minor symptoms.
Your own policy can help: with Allianz Auto, legal cover includes claiming against the third party responsible and, where their liability is established (for example, by a police report), the advance payment cover pays your car's damage up to €50,000.
And if they have no insurance at all? Then the Consorcio pays, as we explain in hit by an uninsured driver in Spain.
FAQs
Does insurance pay if you fail a breath test in Spain?
It pays the victims, because compulsory insurance can't exclude that situation against them. It can then reclaim the money from you. Your own losses are normally not covered.
How much can my insurer claim from me?
Whatever it paid for the damage caused. With serious injuries or fatalities that can be a very large sum. The insurer has one year from the date of payment to claim it.
What if I was under the legal limit?
Neither the insurance law nor Allianz Auto's terms set a specific reading: they refer to driving "under the influence". Being under the limit helps you, but isn't an automatic guarantee. Each case depends on the evidence.
What if I wasn't at fault but tested positive?
The responsible driver's insurer must compensate you, although the amount can be reduced if your behaviour is shown to have contributed to the damage. If you're claiming under your own own-damage cover, the exclusion will normally apply.
Is a passenger covered if the driver was drunk?
Yes. Compulsory insurance only excludes injuries to the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident, not its occupants. The compensation can be reduced if the passenger contributed to their injuries, for example by not wearing a seat belt.
Can I be pursued if I lent my car to a driver who was drunk?
Yes, the law allows recovery from the owner and the policyholder too. Lending your car to someone who'll be drinking is a risk not worth taking.
How we can help
The best thing insurance can do for you in this situation is never be needed: if you drink, don't drive, and leave the car or take a taxi. For everything else, at AMB Seguros we'll go through your policy with you and explain what's covered and what isn't, at our office in the centre of Murcia or by WhatsApp and video call. You'll find more on our car insurance page.
Want to know exactly what your policy covers?
Get in touch and we'll review it with you, with no obligation.
Sources
Royal Legislative Decree 8/2004, motor vehicle liability and insurance law (arts. 1, 4, 5, 6 and 10), BOE (Spanish).
Act 50/1980 on Insurance Contracts (arts. 3 and 16), BOE (Spanish).
Maximum alcohol limits, penalties and criminal offences, Dirección General de Tráfico (Spanish).
The drink drive limit, GOV.UK.
Allianz Auto: general terms and conditions, Allianz Seguros.
The second generation leading the agency’s innovation and its national and international growth. He specialises in business protection and investment strategies, and personally leads our advice for the expat community in Spain.
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