Ben Byrne was knocked over and injured at the age of three in 1993 by an untraceable hit-and-run driver. The
Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) was set up in 1946 for the purpose of compensating the victims of negligent uninsured and untraced motorists. Every insurer underwriting compulsory motor insurance is obliged, by virtue of the Road Traffic Act 1988, to be a member of MIB and to contribute to its funding. However, Ben's parents did not know about the MIB and failed to lodge a claim until 2001. The MIB rejected Ben's claim on the basis that it was too long since the original accident, even though under common law Ben would be entitled to lodge a complaint at any time until he was 21.
In
Ben Byrne v Motor Insurers Bureau and Secretary of State for Transport Mr Justic Faux has ruled that the Department of Transport (DoT) had been guilty of a "lack of thoroughness" in failing to guarantee that those people injured by uninsured or untraceable drivers received less favourable treatment than others. Ben will now be allowed to to ahead with his claim against the DoT.
Penny Knight, solicitor in the accidents department at Leigh Day & Co, comments:
"The court has rightly recognised that there should be equality between Claimants injured by insured and by uninsured drivers alike. It would have been wholly wrong to punish an accident victim because the driver was uninsured, when the same victim could have claimed compensation if the driver had insurance. Unfortunately not all drivers on our roads are insured but at least now we know all victims can be compensated".
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