Enforcement of judgments against insurers

These days it is possible for the victim of a negligent motorist either to bring proceedings directly against the motorist’s insurers, or to sue the motorist and look to the insurers to satisfy the judgment in the event of default. If the latter approach is adopted, there is a statutory mechanism set out in s152 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 whereby the insurers can apply to the court for an order setting aside the policy on the ground of non-disclosure or misrepresentation. Various procedural aspects of that mechanism were considered by the Privy Council in Colonial Fire and General Insurance Co Ltd v Harry [2006] UKPC 53, an appeal from the Courts of Trinidad and Tobago.