header-logo header-logo

Lewis v Motor Insurers Bureau: a five-month wonder?

04 October 2018 / Nicholas Bevan
Issue: 7811 / Categories: Features , Insurance / reinsurance
printer mail-detail

The High Court rules that the MIB is an emanation of the state. Nicholas Bevan reports.

  • Lewis v MIB : provides a valuable new direct route to redress against the MIB for motor accident victims wrongly excluded from the compensatory guarantee.
  • Accordingly, motor accident victims injured in private parking areas or in private cul de sacs can now recover their compensatory entitlement from the MIB direct.
  • However, after Brexit, these important principles, which enable ordinary citizens to challenge the longstanding abuses of power and institutional bias in this area, will be lost.

In Lewis v MIB [2018] EWHC 2376 (QB), [2018] All ER (D) 53 (Sep) Mr Justice Soole ruled that the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) was liable under European law to compensate a man who was struck down and seriously injured by an uninsured motorist in a field. In doing so, he broke with a time honoured but misconceived belief that the MIB’s compensatory role is restricted to the contractual obligations with the Secretary of State for Transport.

The

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Freeths—Ruth Clare

Freeths—Ruth Clare

National real estate team bolstered by partner hire in Manchester

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Farrer & Co—Claire Gordon

Partner appointed head of family team

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

mfg Solicitors—Neil Harrison

Firm strengthens agriculture and rural affairs team with partner return

NEWS
Conveyancing lawyers have enjoyed a rapid win after campaigning against UK Finance’s decision to charge for access to the Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has launched a recruitment drive for talented early career and more senior barristers and solicitors
Regulators differed in the clarity and consistency of their post-Mazur advice and guidance, according to an interim report by the Legal Services Board (LSB)
The dangers of uncritical artificial intelligence (AI) use in legal practice are no longer hypothetical. In this week's NLJ, Dr Charanjit Singh of Holborn Chambers examines cases where lawyers relied on ‘hallucinated’ citations — entirely fictitious authorities generated by AI tools
The Solicitors Act 1974 may still underpin legal regulation, but its age is increasingly showing. Writing in NLJ this week, Victoria Morrison-Hughes of the Association of Costs Lawyers argues that the Act is ‘out of step with modern consumer law’ and actively deters fairness
back-to-top-scroll