Insurances. Foreign element dispute. The recourse action filed by the insurer of a tow vehicle, which indemnified the victims of an accident caused by the driver of the respective vehicle, against the insurer of the trailer towed upon occurrence of tha

DREPTUL AFACERILOR

Abstract

In the case of an accident occurred on the territory of a Member State (Germany), by a vehicle composed of a tow vehicle and semi-trailer, insured by different insurance companies (from another Member State), the burden-sharing between the holder of the tow vehicle and the holder of the trailer is established according to the law governing the tort liability, respectively according to the law applicable at the place of occurrence of the incident, in this case, the German law which, according to the content indicated by the parties, unchallenged, shall establish the liability in charge of the holder of the trailer in a percent of 50%. As regards the “law applicable to the recourse action” the CJEU established that the national court verifies the existence or non-existence of the right to recover (of the insurer of the tow vehicle toward the insurer of the trailer), and not the concrete content of the payment obligation. Specifically, the national court should review according to the Romanian law, applicable to the insurance contract concluded between the holder of the trailer and the respondent according to art. 7 of the Rome I Regulation, if only this law provides for a subrogation of the insurer to the victim’s rights. However, in the Romanian law, this subrogation is provided for with a principle value in Article 2210 para. (1) of the Civil Code.