Court of Appeal finds against MiB in landmark case for road accident victim injured on private land

The court found the Motor Insurers Bureau (MiB) was liable to pay out to Michael Lewis, 73, who suffered severe spinal cord injuries when he was struck by a vehicle on private land.

Mr Lewis was on foot when he was chased across private land by the land owner, who was driving a 4x4 Nissan Terrano. The incident left him a tetraplegic and in need of permanent ongoing care. As the driver was uninsured, the MiB acted as the defendant.

David Gauler, of Thompsons Solicitors, who is representing Mr Lewis, says the court of appeal’s ruling “is a logical extension and opens the door to others injured in similar circumstances to claim compensation”.

The MiB had argued that its liability was limited because the Road Traffic Act of 1998 only requires compulsory insurance to cover collisions on a ‘road or other public place’.

However, Thompsons Solicitors successfully challenged this in the high court last year relying on a European court decision of Damijan Vnuk v Zavarovalnica Triglav, which held that an EU directive required compulsory insurance on both public and private land.

Thompsons argued the EU directive should apply directly against the MiB as they were an ‘emanation of the state’, in accordance with the subsequent European court decision of Farrell v Whitty (No2).

The MiB appealed to the court of appeal, arguing that while it is an emanation of the state, its role cannot extend to claims on private land, as this specific role hadn’t been delegated to them by the UK Government.

Thompsons maintained that there was no distinction between this case and Farrell v Whitty (No2) and it followed that the MiB was responsible for paying compensation to Mr Lewis and the Court of Appeal agreed.

Mr Gauler commented: “Today’s ruling will mean that the MiB, which has a number of ways to exclude victims from compensation under both the uninsured and untraced agreements that wouldn’t apply if the claim were under normal insurance, will now face new claims that it can’t wriggle out of.

“The MiB will still be able to exclude claimants under the untraced scheme if they deem that they have not fully co-operated with the police, and there are additional mandatory reporting requirements on victims which aren’t necessary in a standard insurance claim, but by this decision the Court of Appeal has shut off their rejecting claims from those injured on private land. It has also provided a potential legal mechanism to challenge those other exclusions, by relying on the EU directive to force the MiB to comply with their obligation to compensate the victims of motor accidents.

“Given its reliance on EU law, this ruling could be lost if we leave the European Union. This positive change for victims will be under threat, along with other EU-led advancements in personal injury law, if Brexit happens.”