'Insurance companies liable to compensate victims of accidents'

Dubai: Insurance companies are liable to compensate victims of horrific traffic accidents that are caused by drunken and reckless motorists for as much as those [drivers] are criminally accountable.

This is what a court said recently when it ordered an insurance company to pay about half a million dirhams to a Omani victim, who slipped into a coma and suffered a brain injury, following a tragic accident in Dubai.

The accident occurred when an Indian motorist, R.J., drove his pickup recklessly and under the influence of liquor before he collided with the Omani car which was carrying the victim, Q.S., and his three compatriots on Dubai-Hatta road.

The vehicle's driver passed away instantly and Q.S. and two others were admitted to hospital.

The victim's lawyer Mohammad Al Saadi, of Mohammad Al Saadi Advocates and Legal Consultants, sued the company that insured the pickup for Dh5 million for the medical, psychological and financial damages which his client accrued.

Compensation

"According to the Traffic Laws and Civil Procedure Laws in the UAE, an insurance company is ... liable to compensate victims of traffic accidents especially when the motorist [who drives the vehicle insured at that company] causes the accident.

"Two main factors which bind the insurer to compensate my client are the driver's mistake and the insurance premium's validity," Al Saadi said in his civil claim before the Dubai Civil Court.

The Dubai Civil Court of Appeal ordered the insurance company to pay Dh526,000 in compensation to Q.S.

The verdict is still subject to appeal before the Cassation Court.