Holidaymaker injured in Spain has damages assessed in UK
UK resident Clint Jacobs has won the right to have his damages assessed according to UK law after he was injured in a car accident while on holiday in Spain.
As a result, Jacobs will recover “substantially more” in damages from the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) than if they had been assessed under Spanish law, according to law firm Russell Jones Walker (RJW), which acted for Jacobs.
According to RJW, the win is significant because it is the first time in seven years that the jurisdictional issue that arose in the case – whether a UK resident wrongfully injured in a European Economic Area (EEA) state should recover damages as if injured in the UK – has come before the courts.
Jacobs was hit by a car in a Spanish shopping mall, which left him with serious leg injuries and a fractured pelvis, rendering him wheelchair-bound for 12 months. As he was uninsured his claim was referred to the MIB.
While Jacobs lost the case in the first instance, he won on appeal. The MIB is seeking to appeal the new decision.
The case hinged on the interpretation of regulation 13 under the EU’s Fourth Motor Insurance Directive. Jacobs’ lawyers argued that the clear meaning of regulation 13 was that where a person resident in the UK is injured in an EEA state by negligent driving of a vehicle normally used in an EEA state, and no insurance cover can be identified, then the person may make a claim against the MIB and the MIB must compensate him as if the accident had happened in Great Britain.
Jacobs’ claim was run under a no-win, no-fee arrangement and was backed by insurance in the first instance. However, RJW said only £20,000 of insurance cover could be arranged for the appeal, leaving Jacobs exposed to meeting the shortfall in respect of MIB’s costs.
“The current government plans to make insurance premium and success fees irrecoverable would make it highly unlikely that this claim could have been brought at all, leaving Mr. Jacobs with a tiny proportion of the damages he would otherwise recover,” said Paul Kitson, head of personal injury at RJW.
