Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Act 2024

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Interpretation

2. (1) In this Act—

“Act of 1964” means the Insurance Act 1964 ;

“Agency” means the State Claims Agency;

“Bank” means the Central Bank of Ireland;

“Compensation Body” means Comhlacht na hÉireann um Chúiteamh Mótair;

“compensation body (other)” means the body of a Member State (other than the State) authorised as the compensation body for that Member State for the purposes of Articles 10a and 25a of the Directive;

“Directive” means Directive 2009/103/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009³ relating to insurance against civil liability in respect of the use of motor vehicles, and the enforcement of the obligation to insure against such liability, as amended by Directive (EU) 2021/2118 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2021⁴ ;

“enactment” has the meaning assigned to it by the Interpretation Act 2005 ;

“financial year”, in relation to the Compensation Body, means the financial year of the body for the time being authorised under section 5 (1) as the compensation body referred to in section 5 (1)(a);

“Fund” means the Insurance Compensation Fund established by section 2 of the Act of 1964;

“injured party” means any person entitled to compensation in respect of any loss or injury caused by a vehicle within the meaning of section 56 (9) of the Road Traffic Act 1961 ;

“insurer authorised in another Member State” means an insurance undertaking that—

(a) has been granted an authorisation, under the law of a Member State (other than the State), by the authority in that Member State charged by the law of that Member State with the duty of supervising the activities of insurance undertakings in that Member State, and is consequently authorised to carry on the business of insurance in the State in accordance with one or more of the authorising regulations within the meaning of the Act of 1964, and

(b) writes insurance contracts covering risks falling within class 10 in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Regulations of 2015;

“insurer (domestic)”—

(a) subject to paragraph (b), means an insurance undertaking (other than an insurer authorised in another Member State) that—

(i) is authorised, under the Regulations of 2015, to carry on the business of non life insurance within the meaning of those Regulations, and

(ii) writes insurance contracts covering risks falling within class 10 in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Regulations of 2015,

and

(b) includes an insurance undertaking referred to in paragraph (a) the authorisation of which referred to in that paragraph has been revoked by the Bank;

“Member State” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 1964;

“MIIC Fund” has the meaning assigned to it by the Act of 1964;

“Minister” means the Minster for Finance;

“motor claim” means a claim that is made in respect of insurance business falling within any of the following classes in Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Regulations of 2015:

(a) class 1(d) (injury to passengers);

(b) class 3 (all damage to or loss of land motor vehicles and land vehicles other than motor vehicles);

(c) class 7 (all damage to or loss of goods in transit or baggage, irrespective of the form of transport);

(d) class 10 (all liability arising out of the use of motor vehicles operating on the land, including carrier’s liability);

“MTPL insurance obligation” means the motor third party liability insurance obligation under Article 3 of the Directive (excluding carrier’s liability);

“Regulations of 2015” means the European Union (Insurance and Reinsurance) Regulations 2015 ( S.I. No. 485 of 2015 );

“reimbursement claim” shall be construed in accordance with section 10 (3)(c);

“relevant insurer” means—

(a) an insurer (domestic), or

(b) an insurer authorised in another Member State;

“relevant purposes” means the purposes referred to in section 5 (1)(a);

“resident in another Member State”, in relation to an injured party, means—

(a) if the injured party is an individual, the party is habitually resident in a Member State (other than the State), or

(b) if the injured party is a legal person, the party’s sole or head office is situated in a Member State (other than the State);

“resident in the State”, in relation to an injured party, means, subject to subsection (4)(a)—

(a) if the injured party is an individual, the party is habitually resident in the State, or

(b) if the injured party is a legal person, the party’s sole or head office is situated in the State;

“specified”, in relation to a form, means specified under section 23 ;

“voluntary winding-up proceedings” means collective proceedings which are solvent as construed in accordance with the definition of “winding-up proceedings” in Regulation 270 of the Regulations of 2015;

“winding-up decision”, in relation to a relevant insurer, means a decision referred to in Regulation 275 of the Regulations of 2015 to open up winding-up proceedings with respect to the relevant insurer;

“winding-up proceedings”, in relation to a relevant insurer, means the relevant insurer is subject to winding-up proceedings within the meaning of Regulation 270 of the Regulations of 2015.

(2) A word or expression that is used in this Act and is also used in the Directive has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in this Act as it has in the Directive.

(3) A reference in this Act to an injured party (other than in the definition of “resident in the State” in subsection (1)) includes a reference to a person acting on behalf of the injured party.

(4) For the avoidance of doubt—

(a) whether or not an injured party is resident in the State shall be determined by virtue of the party’s residence status at the time (if any) that the party presents a claim under section 9 to the Compensation Body, and

(b) the reference in subsection (3) to a person acting on behalf of the injured party includes the liquidator (within the meaning of Regulation 270 of the Regulations of 2015) of a relevant insurer.

³ OJ No. L263, 7.10.2009, p. 11

⁴ OJ No. L430, 2.2.2021, p. 1