Motor vehicles and civil liability arising from fires

Abstract

The Supreme Court, in its Ruling of 17 December 2019, applies the doctrine established by the Court of Justice of the European Union which determines that a car catching fire in a private garage must be considered as a traffic accident and is therefore covered by mandatory car insurance; in this case the point at issue was who should be declared as bearing civil liability for property damage caused in application, not of the principle of social solidarity (which governs injury to people), but of the principle of guilt or negligence on the part of the driver/owner of the vehicle causing the damage.

This article explores the question of civil liability for property damage in the case of motor vehicle fires in relation to civil liability arising from incidents of fire in general. To this end, the article first presents the general regulatory framework applicable before addressing the question of the inversion of the burden of proof. Lastly, the article analyses the effect of considering the adverse event as a traffic accident and the repercussions this has on the question of proof and the possibility of obtaining compensation, either from the insurance company with which the mandatory car insurance was taken out or from the Insurance Compensation Consortium.