The High Court has ruled that the Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) must satisfy a €54,160.57 judgment against Joseph Drumgoole, after finding that the plaintiff’s pregnancy-related anxiety meant she could not be expected to consider whether he was insured to drive her car.
Mr Justice de Valera delivered the judgment on 31 January 2007. The liability decision and damages award had been made in an earlier ex tempore judgment. This ruling dealt only with whether the MIBI had to meet the judgment under its 1988 agreement with the Minister for the Environment.
The court found that on 7 August 2000, Theresa Corrigan drove from home to a restaurant in Rathmines with Drumgoole and their daughter. Drumgoole had arrived on foot. Corrigan’s insurance covered her own driving, and Drumgoole was not insured to drive her car.
While at the restaurant, Corrigan, then about five months pregnant, noticed bleeding. Following instructions she had received from the Coombe Hospital for an emergency, she and Drumgoole decided to go there immediately. The court accepted that the concern about a possible problem with the pregnancy caused significant anxiety, and that Drumgoole drove the car while Corrigan was a passenger.
A collision occurred on the way to the hospital involving a car belonging to Thomas Conway. The judge had already found Drumgoole responsible. Corrigan was seriously injured, though her injuries were not life-threatening, and was taken by ambulance to St James’s Hospital for orthopaedic care. The judgment records that hospital staff monitored her for obstetric reasons.
The judge considered the Supreme Court’s decision in *Kinsella v The Motor Insurers Bureau of Ireland*, which said whether a claimant “should reasonably have known” about an absence of insurance is a subjective question, assessed in light of that person’s circumstances. Although the judgment noted that the pregnancy concern was not mentioned to Gardaí, rescue personnel or Conway’s driver at the collision scene, the judge found the collision and Corrigan’s injuries could have pushed the concern from the forefront of her mind.
The court concluded that the anxiety caused by the bleeding was a relevant circumstance under the 1988 agreement. It ruled that the MIBI could not rely on paragraph 5(2) to avoid payment and must satisfy the judgment against Drumgoole. The ruling did not revisit the earlier finding of liability or the damages award.