What rights do claimants injured abroad have to sue insurers directly under the Motor Insurance Directives? Nicholas Bevan reports
Some good news at last for beleaguered RTA practitioners and, Nigel Farage please note, this comes from Europe. In the EU, jurisdictional issues are governed by Council Regulation (EC) no 44/2001 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (Brussels I). Similar provisions apply to a defendant domiciled in Norway, Iceland, Switzerland or Denmark under the Lugano Convention 2007. If the defendant is based outside the EU/EEA, it is necessary to look to the national laws of the EU state seized of the claim (almost always where the accident occurred) to determine jurisdiction; in the UK the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 applies.
The basic proposition under Brussels I is set out in Art 2(1) which states: “Subject to this regulation, persons domiciled in a member state shall, whatever their nationality, be sued in the courts of that member state.”
As with any basic rule, there are exceptions where extra jurisdictional options are conferred. For personal injury
