Knowledge of Insurance – Road Traffic Accident Claim
If an individual is injured in an accident and wishes to commence a road traffic accident claim* it is necessary to establish if a policy of vehicle insurance was in place for the offending driver’s vehicle at the time of the accident.

Most road drivers have vehicle insurance in place but some drivers do not and if an accident occurs, and if a person is injured and has vehicle damage costs etc., this person may have the option to make an application to the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland.
The Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland has a responsibility to compensate victims of road traffic accidents for uninsured or unidentified vehicles.
There are conditions that must be met by the person who makes the application to the Bureau, such as, the person has to give prior notification by registered post to the Bureau within the statute of limitations time frame ie within two years from the date of the accident.
The injured person should notify the Gardai of the accident also and give them the relevant detail.
If a case arises out of such a circumstance, it is likely the individual driver of the car will be named in any civil proceedings and then the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland will likely also be a named party.
Injured applicants of such applications should know, that if they voluntarily enter the vehicle that caused the injury, knowing there was no approved policy of insurance in place at the time of the accident, this will likely be a defence in a case, as it will be contended the injured person consented to enter the vehicle while the vehicle owner was in the vehicle and hence the injured person should not recover against the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland.
If this occurs, even if the person succeeds against the individual driver in the case, they may well not succeed against the Motor Insurer’s Bureau of Ireland, and then find it very hard to enforce the order against the individual named party to obtain the court awarded sum.
Personal Injury Solicitors
Kieran Cleary and Roger Cleary, Personal Injury Solicitors can help with questions you may have regarding negligence, liability, case viability etc. and our numbers are (01) 546 1121 or (052) 612 1999 or our email address is info@clearysolicitors.com
Disclaimer
Please be advised that the above-mentioned material is intended as an overview and as a broad outline of the topic discussed. It should not be considered as complete and comprehensive legal advice, nor act as an appropriate substitute.
Due care has been taken in the publication of this article and we do not accept legal liability as a result of reliance on any material covered in the above article.
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