Vnuk has immediate, obvious & far-reaching implications for compulsory third party insurance, says Nicholas Bevan
Last month the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered the most important ruling on motor insurers’ liability and the scope of the compensatory guarantee scheme for motor accident victims since Bernaldez (C-129/94) [1996] E.C.R. I-1829 18 years ago, and arguably since the inception of the First European Directive on Motor Insurance, Council Directive 72/166/EEC of 24 April 1972 (The First Directive) (see Sarah Crowther, “A short history of tractors in Slovenian”, NLJ, 17 October 2014, p 12).
No motor insurer or lawyer operating in this field can afford to ignore its implications because they are immediate and far reaching.
Background
The relevant provisions of the First Directive are drafted in broad and imprecise terms. Article 3.1 provides: “Each Member State shall...take all appropriate measures to ensure that civil liability in respect of the use of vehicles normally based in its territory is covered by insurance. The extent of the liability covered and the terms and conditions of the cover shall be determined on
