If you’re injured in a road traffic accident that wasn’t your fault, compensation is generally recovered from the other driver’s (defendant) insurance company.

But what if you’re the victim of a hit and run or the driver is uninsured?

That’s where the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) comes in. You may not have heard of it, but the MIB has been around since 1946. It’s a not-for-profit company that was set up by motor insurers to compensate victims of road traffic accidents involving uninsured or untraced drivers.

A recent case in the news illustrated how valuable the MIB services are.

A young dad was cycling to school to pick up his daughter when he was hit by a motor biker, who rode off without stopping.  

The father of two suffered a broken wrist in the accident. Although the motorbike rider was never traced, he was awarded almost £18,000 in compensation through the MIB.

The dad explained: “I was cycling to the nursery to pick up my child, which is something I normally did and then we’d walk back home together. As I was turning in, this motorbike came out of nowhere on the wrong side of the road and knocked me off my bike.”

Passers-by helped him to his feet and took him into the nursery. Instead of the usual walk home that they enjoyed, a friend had to drive the injured dad and his child home.

Later that evening, he had to go to the A&E department at his local hospital. There he was diagnosed with fractures in his wrist and soft tissue injury to his leg.

He had to take three months off work while his injury healed. His finances were very tight, and he ended up having to borrow money from relatives.

The police were notified but dropped the case because they were unable to identify the motorbike as it had no number plates.

The dad said he’d no idea that the MIB existed. He’d been looking online to see if there was anything he could do, when a solicitor told him that he might be able to claim through the MIB.

The MIB also paid for the cyclist to have psychological treatment after the accident left his nerves in tatters.

The relieved dad said: “The compensation has really helped. I’ve been able to pay people back who helped us at the time; we can now take the kids out again as they’ve also missed out.”

The compensation will also allow him to replace his cycle. He said: “Cycling has been my only transport because I don’t drive. The bike was a write-off, and I couldn’t afford to replace it.  Now, with the compensation and thanks to the time with the psychologist, I will be cycling again.”

If you've been injured in a road traffic accident, contact our friendly team and let's see if we can help you. Call 01302 320621 or email help@switalskis.com