Uninsured drivers and the Motor Insurers’ Bureau: knowledge of the absence of insurance

Under the Motor Insurers’ Bureau Uninsured Drivers Agreement, the most recent version of which was published in March 2017, the MIB is required to pay compensation to the victims of uninsured drivers found liable to those victims. The most important exception is in respect of a passenger who knew or ought to have known that the driver was uninsured.

That exception remains in place in the 2017 Agreement. Whyatt and Others v Powell and Others [2017] EWHC 484 (QB) was decided under the equivalent wording in the 1999 Uninsured Drivers Agreement, and it demonstrates that the words “ought to have known” are to be construed narrowly.