The latest on the Vnuk ruling which threatens motorsport, rallies, fairground rides, ride on mowers and electric wheel chairs etc etc. and you thought a vote last summer had sorted it all did you?
Here is an explanation from the Motorcycle Industry
which clearly explains the position, it is a frightening conclusion I took the liberty of highlighting the important bits
It is important to realise that Vnuk is not an item of forthcoming legislation which can be lobbied against or amended, but an actual ruling of Europe’s highest court, with no further avenues for appeal possible. Vnuk is set in stone and cannot be changed. It requires third party damage and injury insurance to be in place for all mechanically propelled vehicles when used at any time, for any purpose and in any place. This includes motorsport vehicles.
However, the European Motor Insurance Directive (MID) can be changed to remove certain vehicles from the scope of the Directive, and therefore Vnuk. It is here that we have focused considerable effort.
The UK Government is not in an easy position. Currently, its only fully legal option is to implement Vnuk. It has proposed an option based on what a possible amended MID could look like and MCIA strongly supports this approach. However, we are concerned about the Government’s legal position with regard to this option, in the absence of proposals from Brussels, let alone an amended MID.
But with no sign of the European Commission legislating to remove motorsport vehicles from the MID and time running out for EU member states to implement Vnuk, the UK Government was forced to launch its recent public consultation, (December 2016), with one option being to fully implement the judgement. This would have catastrophic consequences for the sport.
The Government could choose to ‘exempt’ motorsport riders and drivers from a requirement to buy third party insurance. This is also a legal option. But the requirements of Vnuk will still remain (insurance in place to cover the use of any mechanically propelled vehicle at any time, in any place and for any purpose). This means that third party damage and injury liabilities would remain. The result of this would likely be significant hikes in the cost of all kinds of insurance to cover the costs of meeting claims from ‘exempt’ classes of vehicles. Therefore, unless the Motor Insurance Directive is amended, there is no escaping Vnuk.
The Vnuk Judgment
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