Protection of Visitors Scheme
The Protection of Visitors system was introduced by the 4th Motor Insurance Directive to strengthen the rights of visiting victims of cross-border collisions and simplify their route to compensation. As an example, a British person injured by a foreign registered vehicle in Germany can pursue a claim in the UK, in English, either through the foreign insurer’s representative, or through the MIB. The MIB then has a right of recovery.
The fundamental basis of this system lies in the reciprocal arrangements between Compensation Bodies and Guarantee Funds which ease the claims process for victims and ensure that Compensation Bodies are reimbursed for claims made in the victim’s home country against foreign vehicles abroad.
Unfortunately, as these rights are embedded in EU Law, after Brexit the UK will no longer be part of the system, unless the UK Government and EU agree to replicate it. In the example above, this would mean the British victim may have to pursue their claim in Germany.
As with green cards, this is another issue riddled with complexities and potential scenarios. If the Withdrawal Agreement is negotiated with the EU, the transitional agreement within it will mean we remain aligned to EU law until the end of December 2020 and protection of visitors arrangements will stay the same until then.
Although EU law may no longer apply to the UK after Brexit, this doesn’t automatically preclude us from maintaining some reciprocal arrangements. MIB is making good progress in the three areas that are crucial to easing the burden for people with claims already under way; making things as easy as possible for post-Brexit claimants; and, ensuring that future cross-border claims are paid:
- Pending claims. It’s vital that we ensure that pre-Brexit claims are able to continue unhindered by the changes, including MIB’s right to reimbursement. To this end, MIB is drafting an Addendum to the agreement between Compensation Bodies and Guarantee Funds to enable this to happen. Once completed we will be working to get all countries signed up to it before 29 March 2019.
- Future claims. To ease the process for victims of accidents abroad after Brexit, we are working to set up basic co-operation agreements with other EEA countries that will enable the exchange of relevant information such as vehicle, driver, owner, insurance details and police reports.
- Currently, some EU Member States Guarantee Funds only compensate EEA nationals. France is one such country: so, potentially, after Brexit a British national injured by an uninsured vehicle in France would not be able to pursue a compensation claim at all. The third strand of work for MIB is to set up reciprocal arrangements with these countries to ensure UK citizens continue to be entitled to compensation in these circumstances.