Ever been told it was too late to claim for Injuries caused by Uninsured and Untraced Drivers?

Posted 25/06/2008

It is a little known fact that Britain has a scheme that compensates people injured in road traffic accidents if the driver to blame is uninsured or cannot be identified (“hit and run” and other untraced cases).

Ashtons Legal have recovered in this untraced situation for a brain injured pedestrian where she had no memory and there were no eye witnesses. We have even recovered for drivers injured, losing control of their cars after hitting a loose wheel in the road and on a diesel spill.

The general rule is that an application must be made to the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (“MIB” – who run the compensation scheme) within three years of the incident. But what if you don’t discover this scheme until several years after the accident?

Until now the MIB have refused children’s claims made more than three years later where the driver is untraced.

Now The Court of Appeal has said that ordinary rules about time limits should apply to all MIB claims.

This means where the injury is severe and the person lacks (due to a brain injury) the mental capacity to run a court case there is no time limit as long as that incapacity lasts.

For those under 18 when injured the time limit now expires on the person’s 21st birthday.