HC Deb 18 November 1958 vol 595 c135W
102. The Rev. LI. Williams

asked the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation what plans he has in mind for ensuring that persons who receive injury as a result of an accident due to an uninsured driver being in charge of a stolen car receive financial compensation.

Mr. Watkinson

The payment of damages is already ensured by an Agreement entered into in 1946 between the then Minister of Transport and the Motor Insurers' Bureau in cases where the driver has been identified and held legally liable for the accident. Where there is reasonable certainty that the accident was the fault of a driver who cannot be traced the bureau gives sympathetic consideration to the making of an ex-gratia payment to the victim or his dependents. This Agreement has operated satisfactorily since 1946, and I am not satisfied that it ought to be extended to impose upon the Bureau an unqualified obligation to compensate persons injured by uninsured drivers of stolen or other cars in all circumstances.