Overview of the Act
- The Government has been clear since the 2014 decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in the case of Vnuk (Case C-162/13) ECLI:EU:C:2014:2146 1 , that it does not support the extension of the requirement for compulsory motor insurance to private land, and to a greater range of vehicles not constructed for road use. The Vnuk decision extends the requirement for compulsory third-party motor insurance under Directive 2009/103/EC beyond that in the law of Great Britain as set out in the Road Traffic Act 1988 (RTA). The requirement in the RTA only applies to vehicles used on roads and other public places and to motor vehicles, defined as "a mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on roads".
- In February 2021, the Government announced its intention to remove the Vnuk decision from the law of England and Wales and the law of Scotland, and reiterated this in a Written Ministerial Statement
on 29 June 2021 2 . This Act contains measures to support this commitment. The purpose of this Act is to:
- End the effect of the Vnuk decision in retained EU law, and that of related retained case law; and
- End any associated liability for insurance claims against the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) in respect of accidents on private land and for vehicles not constructed for road use.
1 Damijan Vnuk is the name of an individual, a Slovenian farm worker, who was knocked off his ladder by a reversing tractor trailer. The incident took place on private land on a farm in Slovenia in 2007.
2 The Secretary of State for Transport, Written Ministerial Statement, European Motor Insurance Directive (Removal of Vnuk from UK law), Statement made on 29 June 2021, Available at: Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament.
