Motor insurance

Mr Evans’s long battle for additional compensation following injuries suffered by him at the hands of a hit-and-run driver now seems to be over, following a striking out by HHJ Mackie QC: Evans v Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions 16 February 2006, unreported. Mr Evans was injured in an accident on Christmas Day 1991. He applied for compensation from the MIB under the 1972 Agreement, and was awarded £50,000. Using the appeal procedure set out in the Agreement, he referred his claim to an arbitrator. The arbitrator raised the sum awarded, but decided that the claimant had been contributorily negligent to the extent of 20%, giving a net revised figure of £46,629. The arbitrator was also of the view that the claimant had exaggerated the extent of his injuries, and accordingly that he should pay the costs of the appeal. Finally, the arbitrator ruled that under the 1972 Agreement, she had no jurisdiction to award interest on the sum payable. The claimant was duly paid the sum awarded, plus £770 representing his legal costs and a further £150 ex gratia payment. The claimant applied for permission to appeal against the arbitrator’s award, on the ground that the Second Motor Insurance Directive (Council Directive 84/5/EC) required interest to be paid. Permission was granted but the substantive claim was dismissed by Thomas J. The Court of Appeal, on appeal, ruled that the Directive could not be enforced against the MIB and, accordingly, that the 1972 Agreement was not defective. Accordingly, any remedy which the claimant might have in such a case was in damages against the UK Government under Francovich v Italian Republic [1991] ECR I-5337, for failure to implement the Directive appropriately. A claim was duly made, in which the claimant asserted that: