Deliberate acts

Under the Road Traffic Act 1988 an insurer who has issued a compulsory policy is required to satisfy a judgment brought against the assured if the liability is covered by the policy. The question in Bristol Alliance Ltd Partnership v Williams and Anr [2011] EWHC 1657 (QB) was whether loss inflicted by a deliberate act was required to be covered. Tugendhat J held that this was the case, both as a matter of English law and as a matter of EU law.

Bristol Alliance: the facts

On 12 December 2008 the defendant damaged the claimant’s store in Bristol by colliding with it in his car. The damage caused exceeded £200,000. The claimant’s insurers paid the loss and exercised subrogation rights against the defendant to recoup the loss. Liability was established by a judgment given on 22 December 2010, in which negligence on the part of the defendant was alleged and substantiated, leaving quantum outstanding. The issue in the present proceedings was whether any damages awarded against the defendant had to be paid by his own insurers under his motor policy or whether the claim was to be made against the Motor Insurers’ Bureau on the basis that the defendant had no insurance.