Scott Whyte: Leaving EU means losing protections

SCOTT Whyte warns Brexit will affect insurance claims
There is a raft of EU laws and directives in place to give you rights and protection. Picture: Getty ImagesThere is a raft of EU laws and directives in place to give you rights and protection. Picture: Getty Images
There is a raft of EU laws and directives in place to give you rights and protection. Picture: Getty Images

If you have an accident at work, on the roads or abroad, there is a raft of EU laws and directives in place to give you rights and protection. Consequently, if the UK votes to leave the European Union (EU), it could be that in future accident victims will find it more difficult to bring a case to court because these laws and directives are no longer in place.

As things stand, if you have an accident abroad, you have the right to pursue a claim against the tour operator under UK law which incorporates an EU directive. A Brexit would open the door to these regulations either being restricted or removed altogether, which would mean pursing your case in the country in which the accident happened.

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It’s a similar situation with accidents at work. The main ‘six pack’ Health & Safety regulations are derived from EU directives subsequently turned into secondary legislation in the early 1990s. This is the main body of legislation relied on by employees who take out civil claims against employers and were a major step forward in protecting the rights of injured workers. As a member of the EU, the UK has to have these regulations incorporated into domestic law.

One only has to look at the effect of section 69 of the Enterprise Regulation & Reform Act (ERRA) 2013 where overnight many of the civil law rights for UK workers were wiped out or watered down by the incumbent government.

There are proposals to remove compensation for victims who suffer a soft tissue injury in a road traffic accident in England and Wales, and the Scottish Government has introduced court reform legislation which has created even greater inequality between accident victims and the insurers of at-fault parties.

Whilst the EU is by no means perfect, the rights currently provided do go some way towards affording accident victims protection from meddling politicians.

• Scott Whyte, managing director, Watermans Accident Claims and Care