Motor insurance: scope of cover and compulsory insurance

The Road Traffic Act 1988 requires vehicle owners to be insured for liability for injury and damage “caused by, or arising out of, the use of the vehicle on a road or other public place in Great Britain” (section 145). In UK Insurance Ltd v R&S Pilling (trading as Phoenix Engineering) [2017] EWCA Civ 259, the Court of Appeal considered whether a motor policy covered liabilities of a car owner arising from a fire caused by his repairing the car.

In the course of the judgment, the court also had to decide whether and to what extent the 1988 Act requires such a liability to be covered. The case, which is of great importance to motor insurers and those advising them, is discussed by Jonathan Hough QC of 4 New Square.