The Gazette 1955-58

MOTOR INSURERS' BUREAU. THE Minister for Local Government has made arrangements with the vehicle insurers operating in this country whereby the insurers have agreed to establish an organisation to be known as the Motor Insurers' Bureau of Ireland. The Bureau is intended to deal with the problem of the person who suffers personal injury (including death) at the hands of the negligent driver of a motor vehicle, but cannot recover compensation because of the failure of the driver to insure himself or insure himself adequately. While there has been no evidence of any significant number of cases of failure to receive legal compensa– tion in such circumstances there is no doubt that instances can occur. Insurers elsewhere have entered into voluntary agreements to see that persons obtaining judgment in respect of personal injury to which compulsory insurance applies, recover the amount due to them and the insurers operating here have now formally completed an agreement to make similar arrangements. The Bureau which the insurers have agreed to establish will start to operate on a date to be fixed shortly and will deal with accidents happening on or after, but not before, that day. In respect of any such accident, if the injured person, being a person towards whom liability is required by law to be covered by insurance, finds that the person res– ponsible for his injury does not satisfy the judgment, then, subject to certain conditions being complied with, the Bureau will see fhat it is satisfied. It is emphasised that the arrangement does not apply to damage to property. The scheme will in no way diminish the impor– tance to all motorists of being insured. Not only. would a guilty motorist be liable to suffer the .penalty for driving without insurance, but he would also remain liable to reimburse any sum paid to the claimant by the Bureau, which will take an assignment of the rights of the claimant. The Bureau is thus in no sense a substitute for insurance. It is essential, if the scheme is to continue, that this fact should be borne in mind alike by motorists and those responsible for the administra– tion of the law, and that the offence of driving without " third-party " insurance should continue to be regarded as a very serious matter from the point of view of the community. The scheme cannot cover cases where there is no known defendant and therefore no judgment possible. Examples are the " hit-and-run " case where the defendant remains untraced, or the case of a person found injured on the road with no evidence to show how he met his injuries. The insurers have agreed, however, in addition to

their formal undertaking under the agreement, that in such a case where upon the evidence it is clear that the injury was caused by the negligence of the driver of a motor vehicle and that if the driver had been found, judgment could have been obtained against him, the Bureau will, in their discretion, give sympathetic consideration to making some ex gratia payment to tne injured person. It is not the intention, however, under this part of the arrangement to deal with every trivial injury alleged to be due to a passing car or to deal with cases where the driver of a known vehicle tries to pass on responsibility to some alleged untraced vehicle. Applications for an ex gratia payment will only be considered when the injured person has sustained death or serious and permanent disablement. The State, which is exempt from the requirement of motor insurance, will deal, ex gratia, with any personal injuries claim arising out of the unauthorised use of a State-owned vehicle, broadly in the same way as the Bureau will deal with cases arising out of the use of vehicles which ought to be insured. Where there is a policy of insurance covering or purporting to cover the use of a State-owned vehicle, the case will be dealt with by the Bureau. Coras lompair Eireann, being an undertaking exempted from insurance, has agreed to treat cases in which its vehicles are involved on the same basis as the State will act in relation to State- owned vehicles. In lieu of insuring against third-party risks, a person can obtain a guarantee from an authorised guarantor who has made the approprizte deposit with the Courts. There is only one guarantor operating, the Caledonian Insurance Co., and it will meet claims for compensation arising out of the use of a vehicle in respect of which there is in force a guarantee issued by it, in circumstances similar to those in which the Bureau would meet a claim if any other vehicle were involved. It is intended that the Minister for Local Govern– ment and the Bureau when established, will enter into an agreement, the terms of which will be published. EXCHANGE CONTROL ACT, 1954. BY the Exchange Control (Commencement) Order 1955 (S.I. No. 128/1955) the ist July 1955 was fixed as the day on which the above mentioned Act other than Section 14 and Sub-section (i) of Section 15 thereof shall come into operation. On 28th June, 1955 the Minister for Finance made the Exchange Control Regulations 1955 (S.I. No. 129/1955) which came into operation on ist July 1955 and deal with various matters under the Act.