AO insurance in BiH: the premium by kW in FBiH and Republika Srpska

You cannot register the car without compulsory motor liability (AO) insurance, whose premium depends on engine power in kW and on your bonus-malus class. In Republika Srpska every insurer charges one joint tariff: a first policy for your imported car, with no bonus carried over, costs 747.01 KM a year in the band over 84 to 110 kW and 887.02 KM over 110 kW. In the Federation of BiH each insurer has applied its own tariff since November 2023, approved by the insurance supervisory agency, and we found none of them published; under the agency's last tariff the same bands cost 735 KM and 883 KM, so ask two or three insurers for a quote. Premiums carry no VAT.

What AO insurance is and when you need it

AO insurance pays for the injury and damage your car causes to others, not for damage to the car itself. The policy and proof that you paid it go with the registration request, and you also need the policy for MUP test plates (the registration guide covers both). Every policy covers at least 2,000,000 KM for injury or death and 400,000 KM for damage to property per accident (Compulsory Traffic Insurance Law, Službene novine FBiH 57/20, article 27, and Službeni glasnik Republike Srpske 82/15, article 30); higher sums insured cost more. Insurance is exempt from VAT (VAT Law, Službeni glasnik BiH 9/05, article 25).

How the premium is worked out

The Republika Srpska tariff and the FBiH agency's last tariff both price a passenger car by engine power, in eight bands from up to 22 kW to over 110 kW. Each band's basic premium is a percentage of the base, which is the premium for 33 to 44 kW; your bonus-malus class then sets what you pay, from 50% of the basic premium with the full bonus to 200% with the full malus.

A first policy for a car you have just imported is in the neutral class, 100% of the basic premium: R-06 in Republika Srpska, P6 under the FBiH agency's last tariff. A bonus you have already earned can lower the premium, as explained below.

The calculator starts from 887 KM, the price of a first policy over 110 kW in Republika Srpska; enter the premium you are quoted.

Republika Srpska: one tariff for every insurer

Every insurer in Republika Srpska must apply the joint tariff of the Insurance Agency of Republika Srpska, whose base has been 426.86 KM since 24 May 2025 (Službeni glasnik Republike Srpske 41/25). A year's premium in the neutral class R-06, with the range from the full bonus (R-01) to the full malus (R-14) in parentheses:

up to 22 kW: 306.91 KM (153.46 to 613.82 KM)
over 22 to 33 kW: 366.67 KM (183.34 to 733.35 KM)
over 33 to 44 kW: 426.86 KM (213.43 to 853.72 KM)
over 44 to 55 kW: 487.05 KM (243.52 to 974.09 KM)
over 55 to 66 kW: 546.81 KM (273.40 to 1,093.62 KM)
over 66 to 84 kW: 627.06 KM (313.53 to 1,254.11 KM)
over 84 to 110 kW: 747.01 KM (373.50 to 1,494.01 KM)
over 110 kW: 887.02 KM (443.51 to 1,774.03 KM)

The insurer collects the whole premium when you take out the policy (article 7 of the tariff). The tariff is valid until 31 December 2026 (Službeni glasnik Republike Srpske 55/26); since July 2026 the law allows a joint tariff until the end of 2031 (Službeni glasnik Republike Srpske 67/26), so check which tariff applies from January 2027.

Federation of BiH: each insurer's own tariff

Until 31 October 2023 every insurer in FBiH applied the tariff of the Insurance Supervisory Agency of FBiH. Since 1 November 2023 each has applied its own tariff, approved in advance by the Agency (Compulsory Traffic Insurance Law, Službene novine FBiH 57/20 and 103/21, article 11), and since May 2026 that approval has no end date: an insurer files its tariff at least 60 days before it starts applying it (Službene novine FBiH 35/26). The law obliges insurers to publish their conditions, not their prices, and in September 2026 we found no insurer's price list. The Agency's guidelines also let insurers take into account factors such as your age, residence and driving experience and the car's power, age and make (Službene novine FBiH 50/21).

For comparison only, the Agency's last tariff (Službene novine FBiH 69/23, base 420.55 KM) charged a first policy (class P6):

up to 22 kW: 244 KM
over 22 to 33 kW: 349 KM
over 33 to 44 kW: 421 KM
over 44 to 55 kW: 489 KM
over 55 to 66 kW: 558 KM
over 66 to 84 kW: 614 KM
over 84 to 110 kW: 735 KM
over 110 kW: 883 KM

The Agency put the average premium per AO policy in FBiH in 2025, across all vehicles and classes, at 370 KM (Službene novine FBiH 3/26). Ask two or three insurers for a written quote for your car's power in kW.

Your bonus: claims and an earlier policy

Under both tariffs each insured year without a claim moves you one class down, to R-01 or P1 (50%) at best. In Republika Srpska one claim moves you three classes up, two claims seven and three or more ten, to R-14 (200%) at most (RS tariff, article 23); under the FBiH agency's last tariff each claim moved you three classes up.

In Republika Srpska a bonus class you have earned can be used for another car you buy, and you keep it for three years after the earlier policy ends if no claim was paid in that time. A policy with an earlier insurer in BiH or abroad counts if you show the original of that policy or the insurer's signed certificate of your class, years insured and claims (article 24). How RS insurers treat a German no-claims certificate is not confirmed, so ask before you take out the policy.

Under the FBiH agency's last tariff you kept your class for another car for up to three years after selling or deregistering the earlier one, and could prove it only with a policy or certificate from an insurer operating in BiH (Službene novine FBiH 77/20, articles 9 and 10); the Agency's opinion of 7 December 2020 says certificates from insurers outside BiH cannot be used. Each insurer's own tariff now decides this, so ask.

Hybrids and electric cars: which kW counts

Neither tariff has a special rule for hybrids; both price a car by its engine power in kW. The FBiH agency's last tariff took the power from the registration certificate or, before one is issued, from the manufacturer's data, the customs declaration or the homologation certificate (Službene novine FBiH 77/20, article 2), and the Agency's 2020 opinion rates an electric car by its own kW in the same table.

Klix.ba reported in July 2023 that the BiH registration certificate of a hybrid or plug-in hybrid shows only the combustion engine's power; no official text confirms it. If so, a plug-in hybrid is rated by its combustion engine alone: in Republika Srpska a first policy for one with a 100 kW petrol engine costs 747.01 KM, not the 887.02 KM of the top band, whatever its combined power. Ask the insurer which power it will use, and check the power written on your homologation certificate.

Test plates and cover for less than a year

In Republika Srpska AO for a car on test plates costs 42.69 KM for up to 5 days, 10% of the base, and that premium rises by 15% for each further day (RS tariff, article 8). A policy shorter than a year costs a share of the annual premium, from 10% for up to 7 days to the full premium for more than 8 months, and the premium can be charged pro rata so that the policy matches the registration date (article 6); such a short-term policy earns no bonus (article 23). In FBiH short-term cover is sold as each insurer's conditions and tariff allow (Službene novine FBiH 35/26).

The green card

You do not need a green card to register the car. The BiH plate itself is accepted as proof of insurance in all EU countries, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, the Vatican, Serbia and Montenegro. A paper green card is required in Albania, Azerbaijan, North Macedonia, Morocco, Moldova, Tunisia, Turkey and Ukraine, and until further notice in the United Kingdom, which asks for an insurance document in English. The Green Card Bureau of BiH advises carrying one everywhere, because after an accident it gives your insurance details in English.

It is issued, on white paper, only by the insurer that holds your AO policy; an electronic copy is not accepted, and the code of the country you enter must not be struck out. Croatia osiguranje BiH states on its website (23 September 2026) that issuing the card costs 4.00 KM and that it is issued for at least 15 days; we found no other insurer's price.

Common mistakes

"AO in BiH costs 230 to 831 KM in 2026, under one tariff." That was the FBiH tariff until 16 September 2023. In Republika Srpska the neutral class now costs 306.91 to 887.02 KM, and FBiH insurers have applied their own tariffs since 1 November 2023.
"A first policy starts in class 10, at 0%." It starts in R-06 in Republika Srpska and started in P6 under the last FBiH agency tariff: 100% of the basic premium, with no bonus or malus. Class 10 at 0% belonged to the old X-AO system, abolished in October 2020; under the last FBiH agency tariff P10 was a 40% malus.
"85 to 99 kW costs about 670 KM, 100 to 110 kW about 750 KM." Neither the Republika Srpska tariff nor the last FBiH agency tariff splits that range: over 84 to 110 kW is one band, 747.01 KM under the first and 735 KM under the second.
"AO for a 77 kW Golf costs about 230 KM." Even with the full bonus that band costs 313.53 KM in Republika Srpska, and it cost 307 KM under the last FBiH agency tariff.
"Each claim raises your class by three, in both entities." In Republika Srpska two claims raise it by seven and three or more by ten.
"Electric cars always go in the top band, over 110 kW." The FBiH agency's 2020 opinion rates them by their own kW, like any car, so only those over 110 kW are in the top band.
"The green card, 4 KM, is part of registration." It is not needed for registration, only for travel to the countries that ask for it, and 4.00 KM is one insurer's price.

This step of the import

Work out the whole cost

Sources

The official laws, decisions and pages this guide rests on, read on 23/09/2026. Rules and amounts change, so check the ones that matter to you before you buy.