S.L. 403.25 Art. 42Other cases of compensation.

(1) Without prejudice to any other practice which is more favourable to the injured party, payment of compensation in respect of civil liability to any person, caused by or arising out of the use of a motor vehicle, other than payment of compensation falling within the provisions of regulation 41, may be made out of funds set aside by the Protection and Compensation Fund for the payment of compensation relating to protected liabilities, if the following conditions are satisfied:

(a) the applicant for payment is unable to trace any person responsible for the civil liability;

(b) the civil liability was caused in such circumstances that on the balance of probabilities the unidentified person would be liable to pay damages to the applicant in respect of such civil liability;

(c) the liability of the unidentified person to pay damages to the applicant is one which is required to be covered by insurance or security under compulsory insurance legislation, it being assumed for this purpose, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the vehicle was being used in circumstances in which the user was required by the said legislation to be insured or secured against third party risks;

(d) the civil liability was not caused by the use of the vehicle by the unidentified person as a weapon, that is to say in a deliberate attempt to run down the deceased or injured person; and

(e) the application for compensation is made in writing within two (2) years from the date of the occurrence of the accident giving rise to the civil liability.

(2) Where an application for compensation is made in accordance with this regulation, the payment that may be made by the Protection and Compensation Fund as referred to in sub-regulation (1) shall be of such amount as a court in Malta applying Maltese law would assess as damages which the applicant would have been entitled to recover from the unidentified person in respect of such civil liability, if proceedings to enforce a claim for damages in respect thereof had been successfully brought by the applicant against the unidentified person. The Protection and Compensation Fund shall only be liable to pay up to such limits of liability as may be prescribed by these regulations, under compulsory insurance legislation. The Protection and Compensation Fund when assessing an application for compensation shall:

(a) have the power to require any applicant to provide such information as it may deem necessary for the purposes of determining an application for granting compensation; and

(b) on the basis of information provided at its request by the applicant, give him a reasoned reply regarding the payment of any compensation.

(3) Payment in accordance with this regulation shall not be COMPENSATION FUND)

made unless:

(a) the applicant has given all such assistance, including information required under sub-regulation (2) as may be reasonably required by or on behalf of the Protection and Compensation Fund to enable any investigation to be carried out; and

(b) the applicant has assigned to the Protection and Compensation Fund any right to any payment in respect of the civil liability to which his application relates.

(4) Payments relating to damage to property shall only be made where the Protection and Compensation Fund has paid compensation for significant personal injuries to any party injured as a result of the same accident in which damage to property was caused by the use of a vehicle by an unidentified person. In such cases, the Protection and Compensation Fund shall apply an excess of five hundred euro (€500) to be borne by the injured party suffering such damage to property.

(5) For the purposes of determining the conditions in which personal injuries are to be considered significant, there shall be taken into account, inter alia, whether the injury required hospital care.

(6) The Protection and Compensation Fund shall determine an application for compensation in accordance with this regulation within three (3) months of receiving the information required to be submitted under this regulation and if it refuses to effect compensation, it shall inform the applicant in writing of the reasons for its refusal.