Foreign Claims

There are 2 aspects to this, namely accidents which occur abroad and accidents which involve foreign drivers/vehicles.

Accidents abroad

Where you are involved in a road traffic accident abroad this can raise a plethora of complexities.  There is no absolute guide to where a foreign claim should be pursued, just a complicated set of rules that have to be applied to reach a decision.  Once the appropriate venue has been decided the appropriate law also has to be ascertained.  This is usually the law that applies where the accident occurred, so there may be a need to have an expert on that law available to help.

There is no harmonisation of law within either the EU or nationally. That means you cannot assume that just because the other person would be held responsible for your accident in the UK they will be found responsible.  In some countries liability may even be determined by the police at the scene.  It also means that the amount of compensation can vary wildly and legal costs may not be recoverable or may be fixed.

The final core issue is that the limitation period varies between countries.  Some have a limitation period as short as 1 year.  If you fail to commence Court proceedings within that time you may be prevented from pursuing a claim at all.

Where you have been involved in an accident abroad we recommend you contact the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers on (0115) 958 0585 to discuss finding a lawyer experienced in claims in the country where the accident occurred.

Accidents with foreign drivers/vehicles

If you are invovled in an accident with a foriegn driver/vehicle in the UK then any insurer is likely to have a reciprocal agreement with a UK insurer so that the UK insurer will handle the claim here.  You can therefore contact the foreign insurer to verify who handles their claims in the UK.

Where an insurer cannot be identified then you should contact the Motor Insuers' Bureau (MIB).  The MIB is the 'deemed' insurer for a number of countries, particularly in the EU, and will accept service of proceedings provided the driver can be identified.  If the driver cannot be identified then they will deal with the accident under the  Untraced Drivers Agreement irrespective of the origin of the vehicle.

We are here to help 24 hours a day 365 days a year.  Either e-mail us anytime, call (01296) 662770 (Nick) or (01525) 373322 (Richard) during the normal working day or (07973) 424178 in an emergency.