Motor accident victims could pursue a radical route to redress, according to a motor insurance specialist lawyer.
Writing in NLJ this week, Nicholas Bevan argues the case for claiming compensation from the Motor Insurance Bureau on the basis that the European Directive that defines its role is capable of having direct effect against it.
In 2014, in Damijan Vnuk v Zavarovalnica Triglav C-162/13, the ECJ confirmed that compulsory third party motor insurance is supposed to apply to use on private property and to embrace any mechanically propelled vehicles intended for travel on land. The UK’s implementation of this law, however, excludes private property and numerous off-road vehicles. Therefore, Bevan argues, victims of these types of accidents are unlawfully denied the compensatory protection extended to other motor accident victims.