Motor Insurers' Bureau Liable For Vehicle Accidents on Private Land

The Motor Insurers' Bureau is a very fine bureau. And that's despite the fact that it is funded by motor insurers! It is very fine because, as a general rule, if you are personally injured due to the fault of a motorist who was uninsured or cannot be traced then the Bureau will pay you the compensation which would otherwise have been paid had the driver been insured and identified. In some cases, it will pay for property damage as well.

The High Court has just ruled that the Bureau must pay out the victim not only where the accident has occurred on a road or other public place but on private land. The decision came in a case called Lewis v Tindale and others [2018] EWHC 2376 (QB) where the hapless Michael Lewis had been seriously injured in a field. The uninsured driver had travelled in his Nissan along a road, then a footpath and then, quite deliberately, through a barbed wire fence and into the field where Mr Lewis was standing. The Bureau contested the claim that it should have to pay up (so not all that fine on this occasion) but the High Court decided otherwise.

DON'T LET YOUR INSURER GET AWAY WITH IT: PART 2

Renewing your car insurance? I have already alerted you to one development which your insurer might use to justify a premium increase (see my Don't let your insurer get away with it post on 5 January 2017).

Here's another.

Insurer to you: "It isn't necessary for you to shout at me, sir. A European order coming in on 1 March 2017 means that we must pay more  money to the Motor Insurers Bureau to cover any claims by victims of negligent drivers who were uninsured or have never been traced. That is going to cost us an arm and a leg and we are having to pass that extra burden on to our policyholders. All insurers are doing it. It really hurts us, be assured. Our chief executive officer has been up at night worrying about it. But there you are. Thank goodness for Brexit but it hasn't happened yet. We very much appreciate your loyalty to us over the last 30 years and would you mind answering a customer survey when we have finished?"

DON'T LET YOUR INSURER GET AWAY WITH IT

As from 31 December 2016, your motor insurance policy must include cover for damage to property (be it someone else's car or their brick wall) for up to at least £1.2m. This is an increase of £200,000 on the previous figure. Happily, most insurance policies already provide even more cover than the new minimum figure. If any don't, the insurer must now up the figure. 

When you come to renew your policy, your insurer might conceivably ask for an increased premium. Really! They may rely on increased car repair charges, the cost of fraudulent whiplash claims, that the name of your street starts with an 'R', the time of day or....compulsory insurance cover for damage to property having gone up by £200,000. On the last point, don't let them get away with it. The government consulted on raising the figure and they were told by insurers that few £1m property damage claims were made and that they did not think the increase in the minimum cover would lead to any significant increase in premiums.