Road Accidents Abroad

If you’ve had a road accident abroad while on holiday, the difficulties of making a claim may seem daunting.  How do you find out who to sue?  What is the name and address of the guilty driver’s insurance company?  And anyway, how can you discuss anything with a foreign insurance company when you don’t speak a word of the language? 

In fact, so long as the accident was in the European Union, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein, there may not be much of a problem.  According to EU law, all member states must:

• Establish an Information Centre which can identify the insurer of other vehicle from the number plate, together with address and policy number
• Allow claimants to sue the guilty driver’s insurance company directly in the claimant’s own country
• Require insurance companies to appoint a representative in the claimant’s country who can settle the claim
• Establish a compensation body to deal if the insurer cannot be found or refuses or delays to deal with the claim.

In accordance with the law the UK set up the MIIC (Motor Insurer’s Information Centre), and so long as you know the registration number of the guilty driver, you can find out all the necessary information from them.  The procedure is:

·         You find out the details of the guilty driver’s insurance policy from the MIIC, and write to the insurance company, in English, making a claim.

·         The insurance company must acknowledge your claim and appoint a local representative within 21 days.

·         It must then offer settlement or deny the claim within 3 months

·         In that case you get damages and expenses in accordance with the other country’s rules

·         If the insurance company does not obey these time limits, or cannot be found, the claimant may claim from the Motor Insurer’s Bureau here.

If they don’t accept liability, you can sue here or in insurance company’s state.  

If we take your case on, we will first try to settle it out of court, and the vast majority of claims settle that way. If that does not prove possible and court is the only way forward, many victims of accidents give up due to a fear that they will be found liable to pay the other side’s heavy legal costs if they lose. Their solicitor may have been happy to do the case on a “no win no fee” basis, so at least they’re not getting a bill from him, but that is not much comfort when they get handed a bill for tens of thousands of pounds from their victorious opponents!

We have the solution to this problem. We can offer you ATE (After The Event) insurance, an ideal arrangement for the vast majority of litigants who have limited funds but nevertheless are left with no alternative but to seek justice in the courts.

If you have our ATE arrangement, we will not only handle the case on a no win no fee basis, but will also take out an insurance policy for you which pays your legal costs should the subsequent court case not be successful. In our scheme the premium will only be around £200 - £300. You don’t have to pay it until the end of the case, and only then if you have been successful, which of course means there is no loss to you at all if the case is unsuccessful. Outlays incurred during the case are also refunded if the result is unfavourable, so effectively you can pursue a court action in a completely safe place.  The only requirement is that the case must have at least a 51% chance of success. We will assess this for you completely free of charge.

Make A Free Accident Enquiry

Simply call us for a free assessment immediately on 0131 222 8000 or complete the enquiry form on the right of this page and we will be delighted to help you.