Hit-and-Run Victim's Compensation Right Upheld

A Greater Manchester teenager badly injured by a hit-and-run driver as a toddler has won the right to compensation after the Court of Appeal turned down a challenge by the Government.
Ben Byrne, 18, set a legal precedent last year when a High Court judge ruled that the three-year time limit on making claims to the Motor Insurers' Bureau did not comply with EU law.Mr Justice Flaux's ruling meant Mr Byrne could claim damages.

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The MIB and Government appealed against the decision and on Friday three appeal judges agreed that victims of hit-and-run drivers should have the same rights as those of victims of insured drivers whose claims can be made from the age of 18.Mr Byrne, of Cottesmore Way, Golborne, was just three in 1993 when he was knocked down outside his nursery school near his home but the motorist has never been traced.It was only in October 2001 after taking legal advice that his parents lodged their application with the Motor Insurers' Bureau - the industry body that compensates victims of uninsured drivers - but it was refused on the grounds it was out of time.Insurance industry sources deny the appeal court's ruling would lead to thousands of other applications for compensation.They say it will affect only half a dozen claims.The Untraced Drivers Agreement 1972 between the Department of Transport and the MIB contains no provision to suspend the three-year time limit until Mr Byrne reached the age of 18.Mr Justice Flaux's ruling that under EU law the MIB procedure should be subject to a limitation period no less favourable than those governing other minors for personal injury against a traced driver was upheld and the appeals dismissed.