Most drivers have never heard of the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB), but if you have been involved in a road accident and there is a problem with your motor insurance policy, you may have received a letter from them with a claim against you.

By law you must have a valid insurance policy to drive on UK roads. While some drivers choose to deliberately avoid purchasing insurance, for others it can be more of an oversight.

Insurance policies can have complex terms and conditions which if not understood fully at the time of purchase can result in a policy holder not being covered for the use they require. But by far the most common oversight is simply not renewing or updating key details on an existing policy.

​While the reason for being uninsured may be a genuine mistake, it will have little impact on your legal options in the event of an accident and the MIBs involvement in a legal matter.​

The MIB is a non-profit organisation that steps in to provide compensation to victims of road traffic accidents when the at fault driver is uninsured, untraced, or has a foreign-registered vehicle.

They provide a safety net for these innocent victims by settling claims for personal injury, property damage and associated losses. Ultimately resulting in the claim being dealt with as if the at fault driver had the benefit of an insurer.

In 2023 the MIB assisted on approximately 30,000 incidents and paid out compensation of over £375 million, with both these figures being predicted to increase in the coming years.

While the MIB plays a crucial role in ensuring that victims receive compensation, it also has a responsibility to protect the interests of its contributing insurance companies. This means after a victim's claim has been dealt with, the MIB may then pursue monetary legal action against the uninsured individual if it believes they share some responsibility for the accident.
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The injured party (the Claimant) will have likely instructed solicitors to act on their behalf. The solicitors will have made enquiries on the parties involved in the accident and established their insurance position. If no valid insurance policy has been found, then they will refer the claim to the MIB.

Depending on the progress of the claim, you may have received a letter from the MIB advising you of their involvement or court proceedings from the claimant’s solicitor naming you as a Defendant along with the MIB.

If the MIB have written to you requesting information on the accident, you should provide them with the required details, your version of events and any physical evidence you have of the incident (collision damage photographs, dashcam footage etc.). The MIB will want to thoroughly investigate the incident to establish the facts and the potential liability (fault) position.

​While you may have been without insurance at the time of the collision, this does not automatically mean you were fully at fault for the accident. But likewise, if the accident was clearly your fault, then the MIB being aware of this may expedite the claim process and ultimately reduce the legal costs that are incurred as part of any compensation claim.
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In any court proceedings following an accident, it is likely that both you and the MIB would be named as Defendants. While you may think that this means you are both on the same side against the Claimant, the MIB has no obligation to advise you or act in your best interests.

Therefore, it is essential to act promptly to obtain your own legal advice and representation to respond to the claim. There will be tight deadlines to acknowledge the claim and submit your Defence. Failure to do this will likely result in the Claimant obtaining judgment (CCJ) against you.

A defendant personal injury solicitor will be able to advise you on your position, comply with the court proceedings and liaise with the MIB's solicitor on common issues where it is appropriate to do so.

While there is always the possibility that after the accident claim is concluded the MIB may make a separate claim to pursue you for the costs they have incurred. This should not prevent you from robustly defending the allegations and dealing with the accident claim.

In a best-case scenario, you may be successful in your defence resulting in the Motor Insurers' Bureau not having to pay out compensation to the claimant. However even if the claimant's claim is successful, in full or in part, your defence and compliance with the proceedings will likely reduce the costs incurred by the MIB and ultimately what you may be liable for.
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If you find yourself being claimed against as an uninsured driver, you still have the right to defend the claim and allegations yourself, regardless of the MIBs involvement.

While the MIB may eventually be responsible for paying any compensation awarded, simply ignoring the correspondence and any court proceedings is not advisable. As this will likely just increase the duration and costs of the claim.

Therefore, you should always seek legal assistance as soon as possible from your own experienced personal injury defence lawyer. By obtaining specialist advice, guidance and legal knowledge of the MIB uninsured drivers agreement, you can protect your position and ensure a fair outcome.

Late paying customers are usually the primary source of business cash flow problems. Research by Siemens Financial Services found that a typical UK SME spends an average of 130 hours a year chasing late payments and unpaid invoices often account for 14% of a small business' annual turnover.

How you manage late payers can have a huge impact on your business, so utilising your legal and statutory rights to claim interest and compensation will help mitigate the impact of late paying customers.

Usually you will have specified on your invoice, order or contract terms when payment should be made by. Often this is 14, 30 or 60 days from the date of the invoice or delivery of the goods or services.

If there is no payment period agreed, then legislation sets a default period of 30 days.

Therefore, in the absence of a set payment period you are able to class a payment as late 30 days after you delivered the goods or services, or 30 days after informing your customer of the debt (whichever is later).

All businesses have a statutory right to charge interest on any late payments. This is detailed in the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 (the Act) which creates a right to statutory interest in commercial contracts for the supply of goods and services.

Therefore, if you supply goods and services for business purposes and do not have a provision for claiming interest on overdue payments in your terms and conditions, you can rely on the above Act to claim both interest and compensation. In summary it allows a business to:

• Claim interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate on outstanding invoice amounts
• Claim compensation of between £40.00 - £100.00 per invoice on any that are overdue
• Claim additional reasonable costs of collecting the debt if they are more than the above compensation amount (i.e. solicitor fees)

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The exact amount of compensation that can be claimed varies depending on the value of your invoice:

No, there is no requirement to inform your business customers at the time of the order or purchase that you will claim interest and compensation for late payments inline with the Act.

However if you do make customers aware that further charges will be incurred on overdue amounts, either on your invoices, statement of account or terms and conditions, it may serve to deter any late payments from occurring in the first place.

Business to Business transactions only
Importantly interest and compensation under the Act can only be claimed on commercial contracts (B2B) and not on consumer contracts (B2C).
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Undisputed debts only
If there is a genuine dispute as to whether the customer owes the invoice amount, then you will be unable to add further charges until the dispute has been resolved and the amount owed clarified. Therefore, it is always better to enter a dialogue with customers as early as possible as to why they are disputing the debt and haven't paid.

Consumer Credit and Security exclusions
There are a few types of contracts that are excluded in the Act (section 2), specifically Consumer Credit Agreements and contracts that function via a mortgage, pledge or other type of security.

Customer relations consideration
Whilst it is your legal right to charge compensation and interest on any overdue commercial debts, you may also want to consider the impact on future business with the customer. If you've had a good trading history with them up until recently, you may wish to contact them by telephone to make sure they are fully aware of the overdue debt before writing to them to advise of the interest and compensation additions.

Once a payment is overdue all you need to do to claim the interest and compensation is write to your customer detailing the:

• Invoice number/reference that is now overdue
• Late payment compensation which you are claiming on this invoice
• Daily rate of interest that will be accruing until payment is made
• Total amount currently owed
• Methods that payment can be made (bank transfer, credit card, cheque sent to your business address etc.)

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If you are a VAT registered business, note that VAT should not be added to the compensation charge.

​You may also be want to refer to the 'Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998' as the basis for your calculations in case your customer is unfamiliar with the entitlement.

Finally, keep a copy of the letter as it will provide useful evidence in the event you need to begin court action to recover the debt in the future.
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If the charges that have been added are the only reason for none payment, you may wish to take a commercial view on the debt.
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For example, if your unpaid invoice is £9,000 but your customer is refusing to pay the additional £70 late commercial payment compensation, you may wish to forgo the compensation entailment in favour of recovering the outstanding invoice amount quickly.

But if payment isn't forthcoming even after advising your customer of the accruing daily interest, then your next step is to start the process of pursuing the debt through the courts.

Legal Advice and Action
At this point it would be beneficial to contact a solicitor to advise on what debt recovery options are available to your business and the most cost effective way to recover the monies owed.

​This usually involves first sending the debtor a formal Letter Before Action which will again detail the amount owed, the interest and compensation due and inform that if payment is not forthcoming court proceedings will be issued without further notice. Interest will still continue to be charged during the court process as well as additional amounts being able to be claimed to contribute to your legal costs.

Whilst hopefully the combination of chasing, advising of interest accruement and a solicitor Letter Before Action will result in swift payment, you need to keep in mind that any court claim must be started within six years of the last date a payment was made or when the debt was acknowledged.

If you are a salon owner, tattoo artist or aesthetic practitioner that has been presented with a formal injury claim it can be a worrying time. Even the most reputable and experienced practitioners can still be subject to a compensation claim if a customer feels that you are responsible for them being injured after a treatment or procedure.

Fortunately, this is what your business insurance is for, and your policy should provide legal representation to respond and deal with the claim. However, insurance for businesses that perform cosmetic procedures is far from straightforward, with many standard public liability insurance policies excluding on-body treatments.

So, if you now find yourself having to consider and deal with a cosmetic injury claim, it can be helpful to know about some of the common defences that may be raised.
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Contributory negligence is a legal argument that states that a person who is injured has themself also contributed to the damage that was inflicted or at the least to the severity of the injuries. So, if the injured claimant did not take reasonable care for their own safety, they may not seek full damages from the defendant.

For example, if a client undergoes a non-surgical cosmetic procedure and alleges that they are injured as a result of the aesthetic practitioner's negligence. But the customer also failed to follow the provided aftercare instructions which would mitigate the risk of any adverse reaction. The practitioner may be able to argue that the customer was contributory negligent for the injury that was ultimately sustained.

If successfully proven, contributory negligence can result in a percentage decrease on any compensation that is awarded.
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Assumption of risk is another legal defence that basically asserts that a person who voluntarily takes a risk may not be able to recover damages if they are injured as a result of taking that risk.

For example, if a customer is advised that a procedure carries an increased risk, such as a piercing or tattoo in an unusual area and is subsequently injured. A defendant may be able to argue that the claimant knew, assumed, and voluntarily took the risk that the potential injury may occur.

This defence is known as 'Volenti non fit injuria' which is Latin and translates as 'to a willing person, injury is not done'.
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Lack of duty can be raised if a person does not owe a duty of care to another person, so essentially there is no legal responsibility between the two parties. If a defendant does not have a professional relationship with the claimant, they may not owe them a duty of care and therefore may not be liable for any injuries that the claimant suffers.

For example, if a client is injured during an eyebrow tinting procedure and brings a claim against the salon owner. If the salon owner simply rents out space to the beauty therapist that performed the procedure, they may not be considered to have a professional relationship with the injured person and be able to argue that they did not owe a duty of care to them.

While any building owner must still ensure the safety of visitors to their premises (under The Occupiers Liability Act), if this defence is successful the claimant may choose to redirect their claim to a party that owed them a duty of care for the procedure. Such as the self-employed practitioner that they contracted with and actually performed the procedure or treatment.

If you are a business owner or practitioner that has received a Claim Notification Form or Letter of Claim from a law firm, you should seek your own independent representation as soon as possible. You should also retain all documentary evidence relating to the incident such as patch test results, consent form, pre-appointment questionnaire and details of any products or equipment that were used in the procedure.

Addressing allegations of negligence and establishing fault (liability) are not straightforward matters and specialist legal advice should be obtained before responding.

​A solicitor that specialises in defending cosmetic injury claims will be able to consider the specific circumstances around the alleged incident and advise you appropriately on the potential defences and your liability position.