Source: All England Reporter
Publisher Citation: [2003] All ER (D) 16 (Jan)
Court: Court of Appeal, Civil Division
Judge:

Peter Gibson, Keene LJJ and Jacob J
Representation Nicholas Leviseur (instructed by Websters) for the claimants.
  Daniel Pearce-Higgins QC (instructed by Weightmans) for the MIB.
Judgment Dates: 14 January 2003

Catchwords

Insurance - Motor insurance - Motor Insurers' Bureau - Uninsured driver - Deceased passenger's knowledge of driver's uninsured status.

The Case

Clause6(1)(e)(ii) of the Uninsured Drivers Agreement (the clause), which provided that the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB) would be exempted from liability where the deceased 'knew or ought to have known' that the driver was uninsured, was an exception to a general obligation and therefore had to be given a narrow interpretation; a mere failure to have made enquiries was not enough. However, the clause would apply if the deceased had had actual knowledge or information from which he might have inferred that the driver was uninsured but to which he had deliberately closed his eyes. In the instant case, on the evidence, the deceased had had at the least such information but had deliberately closed his eyes, and accordingly the MIB were not liable for his death at the hands of an uninsured driver.

Practice Areas

If you are a LexisLibrary subscriber you can read more about this case here.

Lexis®Library

  • The All England Law Reports comprises judgments with headnotes and catchwords indicating the area of law and key issues of the case prepared by legally qualified editorsFind AllER Reports
  • Cases related to this particular case that are related to, or discuss this caseView related cases
  • Commentary discussing this particular case from LexisLibrary's comprehensive range of titles including Butterworths, Halsbury's and TolleyView related commentary