Will Brexit impact personal injury claims?
With Prime Minister Theresa May invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on March 29th 2017, the UK is now working towards a date of March 29th 2019 to leave the EU.
A lot of people may not realise that there are numerous EU Directives and Regulations which apply to personal injury claims made in the UK that could be altered as the nation gets closer to stepping away from the economic and political partnership. This is because lawyers across the UK utilise these directives and regulations when assisting clients, but such practices may soon be subject to change.
To find out just how much personal injury claims could change post Brexit, medical negligence solicitors firm Tilly Bailey & Irvine Law Firm investigates:
What are the EU Directives & Regulations?
First, let’s get our heads around just what is meant by both EU Directives and EU Regulations.
EU Directives are legal acts provided for through the EU Treaty. Once in place, all Member States of the EU are obliged to transpose them into national law, and are provided with a set deadline to do so. When it comes to the UK, EU Directives have been turned into laws using Statutory Instruments — a process which means the government isn’t required to create a new piece of law and get it passed through parliament every time a new legal act is created.
The more specific aspects of EU Regulations are known as EU Directives. Each one is filled with the minimum requirements and fundamental principles that EU Member States must abide to once the legal acts are in place.
The links between EU Directives, EU Regulations & personal injury claims
Whenever personal injury claims are made throughout the UK, both EU Directives and EU Regulations come into place through the three key examples:
Accidents which happen abroad
Whenever someone has an accident while they are abroad, both EU Directives and EU Regulations can offer a helping hand.
If you have an accident in any EU Member State which was a result of actions by an uninsured driver, you can receive assistance via a law that’s in place through the European "Sixth Directive" 2009. In such a scenario, the party from the UK can bring a claim and request for compensation through the UK’s Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB). This then sets in motion a process where the MIB will seek for reimbursement from the equivalent bureau that is set up in the EU Member State where the accident happened.
We must also mention the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) scheme. At the moment, this initiative gives those from the UK the right to access state-provided healthcare whenever they are temporarily situated in another European Economic Area. Some 27 million EHIC cards have been issued across Britain to date and proves helpful in times when someone in the UK has an accident in a EU Member State, regardless of the extent of their travel insurance cover.
Aspects of the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act
The groundwork for the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act was laid through the European Framework Directive on Safety and Health at Work. This is because this specific EU Directive has long guaranteed the minimum safety and health requirements which businesses across Europe must have in place to protect both workers and visitors on a site or workplace.
Aspects of the Consumer Protection Act 1987
Product safety is covered for through the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and its associated regulations. It serves to provide consumers with protection whenever they buy goods and services in the UK. However, this act was passed as a result of an EU Directive from 1985, which saw strict liability being put against any producers of defective products.
Understanding how Brexit may alter personal injury claims
It has to be remembered that the UK government has to first pass new laws so to revoke any old European laws which have played a part in forming the nation’s own law leading up to Brexit. Until any such motion is made, nothing will change as old European laws will not instantly cease to be relevant just because the UK is no longer a part of the EU.
When it comes to the EHIC scheme, a deal was already agreed in principle in August 2017. This involved Brexit Secretary David Davis during a meeting in Brussels. The agreement outlines that British pensioners who have retired in another EU Member State and then travels to other Member States for holidays can still use their EHIC card whenever they require medical attention. This move is surely a positive sign for the future of the EHIC scheme.
Between now and the UK officially leaving the EU on March 29th 2019, we still await to see what the results are from further discussions in regards to how Brits will make personal injury claims post-Brexit. It will also be interesting to discover how lawyers will be able to assist their clients when it comes to these claims too.