Motor Insurers' Bureau: Guarantee fund in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Redress, in cases when the damage has been caused by uninsured or unidentified vehicle, in the United Kingdom is organized on specific manner. Task of providing compensation in such cases is entrusted to the organization Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB). This task has been entrusted by agreements concluded between the state and MIB. Regardless of this specificity, MIB is a guarantee fund, an institute which exists in other European states. British courts expressed their stance on legal nature of MIB. Case-law of the United Kingdom earlier had considered that MIB was an institute of private law. Due to the influence of the Court of Justice of the European Union, a different stance has prevailed. Courts of Great Britain accepted arguments of the European judicial institution. Now they consider that MIB is a subject of the public law - emanation of the state. This standpoint has been implemented in the United Kingdom's law and will not be abandoned after the Brexit. The British example shows how the dilemma on the legal nature of a guarantee fund can be resolved in the country that is not a member of the European Union.