Ireland faces a reprimand from the EU for its failure to introduce a directive governing compensation claims for traffic accidents that occour in other EU countries.
The directive, which was due to be enforced from July last year, aims to speed up the settling of claims by allowing victims of accidents in EU countries to directly refer to the insurer of the liable party.
At the moment, a victim involved in an accident outside of the country in which they are insured and registered must pursue the liable party through the court rather than referring directly to the liable party's insurer.
Under the directive, every insurer is required to nominate a claims representative in every EU Member State.
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It also requires companies to:
- impose sanctions to accelerate compensation, where liable insurers take more than three months to make a reasoned reply.
- establish information centres to deal with motor vehicle insurance issues in general, making it easier for accident victims to find out who insures the liable party.
- establish a compensation body to settle claims in cases where there is no claims representative or where the insurer is too slow to settle.