Road Traffic Accidents in Europe
It is a fact of life that every year millions of UK nationals go abroad on holiday. Most are in pursuit of sunshine and will understandably have given little or no thought to what their position is should they have the misfortune of being involved in a road traffic accident through no fault of their own. With their holiday ruined and having suffered injury and other losses it is not surprising that when they return they might need to seek advice from a specialist personal injury solicitor as to whether they can claim damages.
It is of course not only UK citizens being injured in road accident travelling abroad, but with the ever expanding European Union and the accession of 12 new countries since 2004, a number of claims involving accidents suffered by UK citizens caused by drivers in foreign vehicles in the UK have also risen significantly. Since 2001 it has been reported that there has been a 50% increase in claims from motor accidents involving foreign vehicles in the UK and vehicles from 8 of the 10 new accession countries made up 95% of this increase. Accidents involving a foreign vehicle in the UK are not so problematic because the UK courts will assume jurisdiction without any difficulty. Fortunately the position now in relation to individuals who have got injured in motor accidents abroad has improved significantly as a result of the introduction of the EU fourth and fifth directives on motor insurance.
In the past you had the option of pursuing a claim against the driver at fault in his home country or the place where the accident happened. Often this left injured Claimants in an extremely difficult position in having to deal with a foreign legal system and in some cases non English speaking lawyers. In addition the claim was subject to the laws of the country concerned and injured persons were compensated according to the levels awarded in that country. By and large the awards given by the UK courts tend to be more generous than most other jurisdictions in the EU. In addition in jurisdictions outside the UK it is generally rare to recover legal costs. Injured personal injury victims therefore find themselves in a position where they would have to spend more on legal costs than sometimes they could hope to recover in damages.
The fourth and fifth EU directives now mean that claims can be pursued in the injured persons home courts directly against the third party insurers provided that insurer is based in the EU. So for example you travel to France on holiday, or on business and a careless local causes an accident and you are injured. You would now have the option to pursue a claim either in France or provided you are resident in the UK through the UK courts.
The benefits are obvious. You can instruct a specialist UK based personal injury solicitor. The levels of damages will be in line with those awarded by the courts and of equal importance is the fact that your legal costs should be recoverable.
These changes mean that UK citizens who now go abroad on holiday with their car can have some peace of mind when it comes to pursuing a claim following a road accident. Undoubtedly there are complexities and these cases are not straightforward. It is vital that a specialist is instructed.
The MyClaim panel of personal injury solicitors have many years experience of dealing with accidents abroad and if you would like free advice on the matter please get in contact with us on 0800 731 2586 or apply on line.