HC Deb 15 October 1968 vol 770 cc93-4W
65 Mr. Buchanan-Smith

asked the Minister of Transport if he will now make a statement about the agreement with the Motor Insurers' Bureau in relation to compensation for victims of hit-and-run accidents.

Mr. Marsh

Yes. We have reached agreement with the Motor Insurers' Bureau cm a new procedure in these cases. I would like to thank the Bureau for their co-operation in this matter in discussions which have necessarily been complex and lengthy, and for their agreement to bear additional costs which the Agreement will involve.

The new Agreement, between the Minister of Transport and the Motor Insurers' Bureau, will apply to accidents occurring after the date the Agreement comes into operation. The main points are as follows. Under the terms of the Agreement, the Bureau will accept applications for payments in respect of death or injury as a result of an accident involving the use of a motor vehicle on the road in Great Britain where the person responsible, or—in certain circumstances—partly responsible, for the accident cannot be traced, and the untraced driver's liability to the injured person is one which is required to be insured under the Road Traffic Act, 1960.

The Bureau will arrange for the circumstances of the accident to be fully investigated, and, when this has been done, will decide whether to make an award and, if so, how much. The Bureau's awards will be based broadly on common law damages. The Bureau will then notify their decision to the applicant, giving their reasons. Their decision will be accompanied by a statement setting out the circumstances of the accident and facts relevant to the assessment of the amount, if any, to be awarded. Unless within six weeks the applicant disputes the decision, either because the Bureau has decided not to make an award or because he considers the sum awarded too small, the award, if any, will be paid.

If the applicant disputes the Bureau's decision he will have the right of appeal to an arbitrator selected from a panel of Queen's Counsel appointed by the Lord Chancellor or, if the accident happened in Scotland, from a similar panel appointed by the Lord Advocate. For the purpose of such an appeal the statements and correspondence passing between the Bureau and the applicant will be sent to the arbitrator, who will have power to ask the Bureau to investigate further in order to clarify any matter, and will finally decide on the basis of the written material before him, and in the light of the grounds of the appeal. whether the Bureau should make an award and, if so, the amount. The Bureau have agreed to pay the arbitrator's fee, unless the arbitrator decides in his discretion that it should be paid by the applicant because there were no reasonable grounds for the appeal.

The Agreement will also deal with detailed points such as the Bureau's right to require an identified driver whom they consider to have been at least partially responsible for the accident to be sued, and the calculation of the amount to be paid by the Bureau in a case where an identified driver and an unidentified one were jointly responsible.

The Agreement will thus retain the advantages to victims of such accidents of the present ex gratin arrangements in that little or no expense will fall on them, except in the case of an unmeritorious appeal where the arbitrator decides that his fee should be paid by the applicant.

The final text of the Agreement is now almost complete. As soon as possible after it is signed I will arrange for copies to be printed and made available in the Vote Office and generally through the Stationery Office.