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www.phtm.co.uk july 2012 The official newspaper of the National Private Hire Association WORBOYS VICTIMS LOSE INSURANCE RULING
In a landmark judgement published on 25 June, ten women who had all been victims of the noto- rious “black cab rapist” John Worboys were told that
their civil action
taken against the insur- ers of Worboys’ taxi was unsuccessful. Worboys had been found guilty of drugging and sexually
assaulting
women while working as a licensed London taxi driver. His modus operandi was based on offering his passengers alcoholic drinks laced with sedative; when the sedative had taken effect he carried out the sexual assaults on the victims. He was jailed indefinitely in 2009 after being con- victed at Croydon Crown Court of multiple rapes over more than a decade. The ten claimants had asked a High Court judge, Mr Justice Silber, to rule in their favour in a unique action relating to the liability of motor insurers over
their
injuries, basing their claim on the contention that Worboys’ taxi was instrumental
ordeal. During the hear- ing of the action in April,
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the court was asked to consider whether per- sonal injuries caused by a taxi driver’s assaults on a passenger, during the course of a journey, were “caused by or arose out of the use of a vehicle on a road” for the purposes of compulsory insurance as required by the Road Traffic Act 1988. The women - each of whom had been a pas- senger in Worboys’ taxi in 2007 or 2008 - had asked Mr Justice Silber for a declaration that “upon the claimant obtaining a judgement against Mr Worboys for damages and interest and/or costs in respect of the matters complained of”, the insurers “were liable to pay to the claimant such judgement sum together with any interest due thereon.” Acting for the claimants, Mr Edwin Glasgow QC stated: “It is our submis- sion that the use of the taxi and the part that it
played in the attacks that occurred during the course of the journeys was essential and materi- al.” He maintained that the taxi became the place where the women were “falsely imprisoned”, and it “provided the means” by which the attacks could take place. However, Mr Justice Sil- ber dismissed applic- ations brought against Inceptum Insurance Company Ltd, formerly known as HSBC Insur- ance (UK) Ltd, on a preliminary issue that it was liable to pay dam- ages because Worboys’ crimes were committed in his insured taxi. In his ruling, Mr Justice Silber found that the bod- ily injuries suffered by the claimants did not arise out of the use of Wor- boys’ vehicle on a road or other public place within the meaning of the 1988 Act. He announced that Worboys’ use of the vehicle at the material
times was not a use insured by the policy issued by the insurers. The Judge said: “It is clear that the fact of the location of the offences of administering the sedatives and of commit- ting or attempting the sexual assaults occurred in Worboys’ taxi, but that is not conclusive or by itself of any real potency. “The injuries of
the
claimant were caused by the criminal acts of Wor- boys in administering sedatives and then in attempting to or actually assaulting the claimants. They did not arise out of the use of the taxi on a road.” Following this judge- ment, the industry can breathe a sigh of relief. Had the ruling gone the other way, it is a guaran- teed certainty
that
insurance premiums for licensed vehicles would have gone through the roof - even more than they have already.
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issue 238 issue 238 by Trapeze
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