The Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) will soon pay claims for damage sustained by cars of uninsured drivers following a reported European Union ruling.
According to reports in UK newspapers including
The Times, Daily Mail, The Sun and Express, the EU has ruled that even uninsured motorists must be compensated if their cars are damaged.
The ruling was met with criticisms from British officials including Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, who said on Thursday night that he had no choice but to apply the directive to the UK since the government is still bound by the EU.
The MIB said on its website that the shake-up will be implemented in the UK starting from March 1 even if it is “counter-intuitive” to pay a claim for the damage to an uninsured driver’s car caused by another uninsured.
“We understand that the government felt its hands were tied and they must comply with the directive,” the MIB said.
“Whilst we will deal with these claims in a professional manner, the principle of using honest premium paying motorists money to pay for the damage to an uninsured driver’s car seems crazy,” added MIB chief technical officer Paul Ryman Tubb.
“Our fear is that there will be more claims and as a result higher premiums,” he also told
The Sun.
The media reports noted that under present UK rules, a £250 million industry fund pays out compensation claims to drivers hit by uninsured motorists. To meet the bill, the MIB charges every insurer a levy, which is passed on to drivers through their premiums.
Motorists who are crash victims in the UK will not receive compensation if they are uninsured. But now, the EU wants a common system across the economic bloc wherein no driver is excluded, the
Daily Mail reported.
Grayling said the EU will fine the UK if the new ruling is not applied to British motorists. However, he assured that the issue will be revisited after the Brexit move.
“It cannot be right that hardworking, law-abiding drivers will foot the bill for the irresponsible actions of those who decide to break the law and drive without insurance,” Grayling was quoted as saying by the
Daily Mail.
“As a result of European law, the government is forced to make these changes to the compensation paid out by the MIB,” he added. “We are bound by our EU obligations – but we are leaving the EU and we will want to come back to this.”
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