On the infringements associated with the United Kingdom’s transposition of European Council Directive 2009/103/EC of 1 September 2009 on motor insurance

Abstract

The United Kingdom (UK)’s transposition of the European Directive on motor insurance (the Directive) is shot through with provisions that fall below the minimum standard of compensatory protection for accident victims prescribed under this superior law. These expose third party victims to the risk of being left undercompensated, or recovering nothing at all. The author’s research has demonstrated that the handful of cases that had previously been perceived as isolated anomalies in the UK’s transposition of this European law are in fact symptomatic of a more extensive and deep-rooted nonconformity. His published articles over the past five years were the first to reveal the prevalence of this problem and the resulting lack of legal certainty. He has been the first to offer detailed proposals for reform, as well as fresh insights into legal remedies potentially available to private citizens affected by these irregularities. Sections 2 and 3 of this paper are a summary of the author’s views covered in his various articles and research into the causes and effects of this disparity. They explain that whilst both the UK and European Union’s legislature share a policy objective the different approaches to achieving that end have resulted in different standards of compensatory protection. Section 4 recounts the author’s empirical approach that led him to undertake the first comprehensive comparative law analysis in this field. Section 5 explains the original, if sometimes controversial, nature of the author’s case commentaries, articles and official reports proposing reform. Section 6 sets out the author’s contribution to legal knowledge and practice in this area. This includes his opinion, contrary to long established precedent, that the Directive is capable of having direct effect against the Motor Insurers’ Bureau.