The claimant had been severely injured when hit by a car in Greece. The car’s driver was uninsured. The Court was now asked whether the scope of her claim to damages was to be determined in accordance with English or Greek law. The implementation of the European Regulations with UK law predated the Sixth Directive.
Held: ‘whichever special provision of the Fourth Directive the victim of a motor accident may have to have recourse, the compensation to which he or she is entitled is and remains the same. It is the same compensation as that to which the victim is entitled as against the driver responsible, or his or her insurer, or, that failing, as against the guarantee fund of the state of the accident. The compensation remains the same if and when the victim has recourse instead to the compensation body established in his own state of residence under article 6 or 7.’
‘the scheme of the Directives is clear, and that they do not leave it to individual member states to provide for compensation in accordance with any law that such states may choose. On the contrary, they proceed on the basis that a victim’s entitlement to compensation will be measured on a consistent basis, by reference to the law of the state of the accident, whichever of the routes to recovery provided by the Directives he or she invokes. In consequence, it also makes no difference to the measure of liability of the body or person ultimately responsible, which route is chosen. ‘
Judges:
Lord Mance, Lord Clarke, Lord Sumption, Lord Toulson,Lord Hodge
Citations:
[2016] UKSC 52, [2016] 1 WLR 3194, [2016] WLR(D) 453, UKSC 2015/0113, [2016] RTR 26, [2017] PIQR P3
Links:
Bailii, WLRD, Bailii Summary, SC
Statutes:
Sixth Directive 2009/103/EC, The Motor Vehicles (Compulsory Insurance) (Information Centre and Compensation Body) Regulations 2003
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
At First Instance – Moreno v The Motor Insurers’ Bureau QBD 17-Apr-2015
The claimant suffered injury in a road traffic accident in Greece. The responsible driver was uninsured. She claimed here under the MIB scheme, and the court was now asked whether Greek or UK law governed the assessment of damages.
Held: The . .
Leave – Moreno v The Motor Insurers’ Bureau QBD 23-Apr-2015
Application for leave to appeal – granted . .
Overruled – Jacobs v Motor Insurers Bureau CA 27-Oct-2010
The claimant was injured when struck by a car in Spain, driven by an uninsured driver. He claimed here against the MIB. The 2003 Regulations under which he claimed had not been updated for the 2007 EU Regulations. The parties disputed which law . .
Cited – Harding v Wealands HL 5-Jul-2006
Claim in UK for Accident in Australia
The claimant had been a passenger in a car driven by his now partner. They had an accident in New South Wales. The car was insured in Australia. He sought leave to sue in England and Wales because Australian law would limit the damages.
Held: . .
Cited – Evans v The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions and The Motor Insurers’ Bureau ECJ 4-Dec-2003
ECJ Reference for a preliminary ruling: High Court of Justice (England and Wales), Queen’s Bench Division – United Kingdom. Approximation of laws – Directive 84/5/EEC – Compulsory insurance against civil . .
Overruled – Bloy v Motor Insurers’ Bureau CA 29-Nov-2013
. .
Cited – Marleasing SA v La Comercial Internacional de Alimentacion SA ECJ 13-Nov-1990
Sympathetic construction of national legislation
LMA OVIEDO sought a declaration that the contracts setting up Commercial International were void (a nullity) since they had been drawn up in order to defraud creditors. Commercial International relied on an EC . .
Cited – The United States of America v Nolan SC 21-Oct-2015
Mrs Nolan had been employed at a US airbase. When it closed, and she was made redundant, she complained that the appellant had not consulted properly on the redundancies. The US denied that it had responsibility to consult, and now appealed.
Cited – Cox v Ergo Versicherung Ag SC 2-Apr-2014
The deceased army officer serving in Germany died while cycling when hit by a driver insured under German law. His widow, the claimant, being domiciled in England brought her action here, claiming for bereavement and loss of dependency. The Court . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Personal Injury, Road Traffic, Damages, European
Updated: 17 June 2022; Ref: scu.570159
