§ Mr. Howeasked the Minister of Transport if he will make a statement concerning the operation of the Agreement between himself and the Motor Insurers' Bureau, specifying, in respect of each of the last five years, the number of claims made against the Bureau, the number of claims in respect of which payment has been made to the claimant, and the total amount paid to claimants by the Bureau, respectively.
§ Mr. Tom FraserThe Agreement provides a source of compensation for third parties, as defined in the Road Traffic Act 1960, injured through the negligence112W of motorists using their vehicles outside the terms of their insurance policies or with no insurance at all. No claim which falls within the terms of the Agreement is refused. If payment becomes due because the vehicle is used outside the terms of the policy the insurer who issued the policy handles the case under a domestic agreement between the Bureau and the insurer. Records of such cases are not available. The Bureau itself handles cases where no policy exists. The following list contains figures relating to these latter cases, but I must emphasise that they do not indicate the full effect of the Agreement.
Year Number of claims made Number of claims within the Agreement Total amount paid £ 1959 149 101 68,014 1960 147 99 54,242 1961 187 137 88,602 1962 173 179 136,873 1963 220 136 114,521 The claims met in any year do not necessarily correspond to the claims made in that year. The figures for 1964 are not yet available.
§ Mr. Howeasked the Minister of Transport if he will make a statement concerning the fulfilment by the Motor Insurers' Bureau of its obligations in accordance with Note 6 of the Agreement between himself and the Bureau, specifying, in respect of each of the last five years, the number of claims made against the Bureau in respect of personal damage resulting from the use on a road of a vehicle the owner or driver of which cannot be traced, the number of such claims in respect of which payment has been made, the total amount paid in respect of such claims, and the highest amount paid in respect of any single such claim, respectively.
§ Mr. Tom FraserNote 6 to the Agreement indicates that the Bureau will considerex gratia requests for compensation where there is a reasonable certainty that a claim for damages would lie against a driver if he had been traced. Experience shows that all such requests are most carefully considered; there are, however, certain points which I am now examining with the Bureau.
113WThe figures requested are:
1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 No. of requests … … 198 222 236 233 230 No. of payments … … 142 158 168 167 158 Total sum paid … … £71,430 £90,932 £72,917 £100,655 £97,813 Highest sum paid … … £7,500 £5,500 £4,500 £5,000 £7,500 The amounts paid in any one year do not necessarily correspond to the requests received in that year. The figures for 1964 are not yet available.