Motor insurance: measure of damages for victim injured abroad

The Supreme Court, in Moreno v Motor Insurers’ Bureau [2016] UKSC 52, a leapfrog appeal directly from the ruling of Gilbart J, [2015] Lloyd’s Rep IR 535, has held that the right of a UK victim of an accident elsewhere in the EU to claim compensation from the Motor Insurers’ Bureau is one to recover the measure of damages available in the country where the accident occurred and not the English measure of damages.

The ruling creates consistency with the overall EU scheme, but was reached despite wording of UK implementing legislation that strongly pointed to the opposite conclusion. The Supreme Court was required to consider only the position of the victim of an uninsured driver, but made important comments on the situation applicable where the driver is insured but the claim is brought against the MIB. The decisions of the Court of Appeal in Jacobs v Motor Insurers’ Bureau [2011] Lloyd’s Rep IR 355 and Bloy v Motor Insurers’ Bureau [2014] Lloyd’s Rep IR 75 have been overruled.