A new year is fast approaching and, for 2021, Brexit will play a significant role

As an update, we would like to remind you of the key effects in respect of claims involving UK parties, whether accidents occurring in your State or in the UK, and the changes that you will experience.

1. Accidents in the UK involving UK victims / parties – These events are known to us all as Green Card (or Internal Regulations) claims and are unaffected by Brexit.

2. Accidents in your State involving UK victims / parties – These events have been controlled by the EU 4^th Motor Directive since 2003 but the Directive is anticipated to terminate with effect from 31/12/2020. The effects of this termination are that:

• 4^th Directive claims in process will be unaffected and Van Ameyde will continue to represent you as normal;
• Accidents occurring on or before 31/12/2020 will continue to produce 4^th Directive claims and Van Ameyde will continue to represent you as normal;
• Accidents occurring in your State involving UK victims / parties occurring on or after 01/01/2021 will fall under the relevant law of your State with no regulatory influence from the 4^th Directive. It should be noted that private international law and Rome II regulation may govern certain aspects of claims.

From 01/01/2021, you will almost certainly receive claims from the UK in respect of accidents occurring in your State and these claims will most likely be directly sent to you by UK claimants (not represented by a lawyer).  In Van Ameyde’s experience, these claims will cause some language and cultural challenges to you and it will be in your interests to involve Van Ameyde to negotiate with those claimants in their own language and the culture of their home country.

We understand that your local Bureau, and the Council of Bureau, have encouraged the continued use of voluntary claims representatives in the UK jurisdictions from 01/01/2021.  You may already have received information about this change from your Information Centre or Bureau during their discussions with the UK Information Centre (MIB).

In summary, using Van Ameyde to handle the direct negotiations with negotiations with UK claimants will be of benefit to you and Van Ameyde is able to handle this work on the same terms that exist under our 4^th Directive agreement.

If you have any questions or observations that you would like to share with us, please feel free to reach out.