For the Want of Certainty: "Vnuk, Juliana" and "Andrade" and the Obligation to Insure

• Published in: Modern law review Vol. 82; no. 6; pp. 1132 - 1145
• Main Authors: Marson, James, Ferris, Katy
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford John Wiley & Sons Ltd 01.11.2019; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Automobile insurance; Courts; Jurisprudence; Law and legislation; Motor vehicles; Private property; Real property; Transportation; Uncertainty; Vehicles; UNITED KINGDOM; EUROPEAN UNION
• ISSN: 0026-7961; 1468-2230
• DOI: 10.1111/1468-2230.12466

In 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union in Damijan Vnuk v Zavarovalnica Triglav extended the requirement for the owner of a motor vehicle to possess insurance cover where the vehicle is used on a road or other public place to vehicles on private land. Beyond disquiet as to this extension, there remains uncertainty at statutory and jurisprudencial levels. According to Fundo de Garantia Automóvel v Juliana, immobilised vehicles stored on private land but which are capable of being driven are subject to compulsory motor vehicle insurance whereas in Andrade v Crédito Agrícola Seguros, insurance is required only where the vehicle is used as a means of transport. Andrade appears overly restrictive and may operate to defeat the protections of the Motor Vehicle Insurance Directives. Clarification is needed, through a seventh MVID or direction from the CJEU, as to the authority of Andrade and the circumstances in which motor vehicles must be insured.