Passengers in uninsured vehicles

The question referred to the European Court of Justice in Commission of the European Communities v Republic of Ireland Case T-211/07 concerned the compatibility of the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland Agreement with the requirements of the European Union’s motor insurance directives as they affect passengers injured in uninsured vehicles.

Ireland: the legal background

The scheme of the EU’s motor insurance directives is to compel every member state to require the user of a vehicle to insure against liability to any third party, including any passenger. In cases where the user is not covered by insurance, the member state is required to establish a compensation body charged with the duty of meeting claims by third parties, as if there had been insurance in place. In the UK this function is, of course, served by the Motor Insurers Bureau. The third indent of art 1(4) of the Second Motor Insurance Directive, Council Directive 84/5/EEC, provides that: