Member Article

Lower compensation for holidaymakers injured by uninsured drivers

Holidaymakers injured by uninsured drivers may now face further misery after the Supreme Court ruled that their compensation would be calculated based on the law of the country where the accident happened as opposed to UK law, meaning claimants are now likely to receive significantly less if the country where the accident took place makes lower awards.

The court was ruling in a case in which a British holiday maker had to have one of her legs amputated through the tibia after an accident involving an uninsured driver on a Greek island. The accident meant the claimant may need to be fitted with a prosthetic leg in the future, an outcome that would have seen her awarded substantial damages had it been assessed under the law of England and Wales.

However, the Supreme Court in this case ruled that the damages would be dealt with by the law of the EU country in which the injury occurred, in this case Greece.

Stephen Trump, Catastrophic Injury Partner at Clarke Willmott LLP, said: “This decision provides important clarification of how damages should be decided and crucially, how much the amount of compensation may depend on which country the injury occurred in.

“Cases involving prosthetics tend to lead to substantial damages, so it was vital that the court clarified which country’s legal system should determine the amount payable.

“Sadly, as a result of the Supreme Court judgement, the claimant will now recover a significantly lower award.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clarke Willmott .