Motor insurance law change

The European Commission (EC) is proposing major reforms to the Motor Insurance Directive.

On 8 June, it announced its intention to act quickly to limit the impact of the European Court of Justice’s decision in Vnuk, that among other things extended compulsory third party motor insurance to use on private property. According to Nicholas Bevan, solicitor and motor insurance specialist, the “most likely outcome” will be to restrict this requirement to areas where the public have access and to traffic scenarios.

Second, the EC plans to launch an extensive review of the Directive, how it has been applied in different jurisdictions and what can be done to ensure it is implemented consistently. According to Bevan, this could take up to two years.

Bevan says: “This wide-ranging review follows on from a detailed infringement complaint at the EC against the UK for its systemic infringements of the directive.

“I understand that the UK argued that it was being unfairly singled out for scrutiny by the EC’s investigation following my complaint and so the EC decided to widen the scope of its enquiry to include other jurisdictions. All this began with four articles in the NLJ: On the right road? [see links below], which triggered the Department for Transport review of the Motor Insurance Bureau agreements, the complaint and latterly an ongoing judicial review. Ultimately, we are likely to see much greater clarity and consistency which will benefit insurers, consumers and accident victims alike.”