S.L. 403.13 Art. 26Other cases of compensation.

(1) 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 provision of regulation 25, may be made out of funds set aside by the Fund for the payment of compensation relating to protected liabilities, if the following conditions concur:

(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 years from the date of the occurrence of the accident giving rise to the civil liability.

(2) Where an application for compensation is made under this regulation, the payment that may be made by the Fund as aforesaid 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 that 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 Fund shall only be liable to pay up to such limits of liability as may be prescribed under compulsory insurance legislation. The 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) No payment under this regulation shall be made unless -

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

(b) the applicant has assigned to the 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 Fund has paid compensation for significant personal injuries to victims 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 Fund shall apply an excess of five hundred euro (€500) for which the person suffering such damage to property may be responsible.

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

(6) The Fund shall determine an application for compensation under this regulation within three 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.