In the first instalment of a two-part feature, Dr Nicholas Bevan, reflects on the ruling in MIB v Lewis & its implications for the UK’s compulsory third-party motor insurance regime
- Why the Motor Insurers’ Bureau is liable to compensate motor accident victims affected by the government’s failure to implement the European Motor Insurance Directive properly.
On 5 June the Court of Appeal delivered an important ruling in MIB v Lewis [2019] EWCA Civ 909 that has far-reaching implications for the UK’s compulsory third-party motor insurance regime. It is likely to have an adverse impact on the reserves of the motor insurers who supply this cover.
The ruling fixes the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) with a new form of liability, based on directly applicable European law, to compensate motor accident victims who have been wrongly denied a compensatory guarantee through compulsory insurance due to the government’s failure to implement fully Article 3 of the Sixth Motor Insurance Directive 2009/103 (the Directive).
The appellant
The appeal in Lewis was brought by the MIB. This is a privately-owned consortium of UK motor
