Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 496

Summary: - Requiring the insurer to cover civil liability for the amount of compensation awarded and requiring it to pay within ten days of the date on which it is notified of the judgment. Articles 63 and 80 of the Executive Regulations of the Traffic Law. The purpose thereof: urging the insurer to pay the compensation to the injured party if a judicial judgment awarding it is issued. The implication thereof: a judicial judgment need not be issued for the insurer to have recourse for what it has paid against the insured or the third party responsible for the accident. Its effect. Compensation may be determined by agreement between the insurer and the injured party. The condition thereof: in assessing it, care must be taken not to exceed the Sharia blood money due and the elements of damage giving rise to it. The court hearing the recourse action must scrutinize the appropriateness of this assessment if a dispute is raised concerning it, so that it does not involve exaggeration or collusion at the expense of the insured or the third party responsible for the damage. Rule: It is established in the case law of the Court of Cassation that the provision in Article 63 of the Executive Regulations of the Traffic Law requiring the insurer to cover civil liability for the amount of compensation awarded, and the provision in Article 80 thereof requiring the insurer to pay the compensation within ten days of the date on which it is notified of the judgment without the slightest delay, do not mean that a judicial judgment must award this compensation before the insurer is obliged to pay it so that it can have recourse for what it paid against the insured and the third party responsible for the accident. Rather, they merely mean urging the insurer to pay the compensation to the injured party as quickly as possible if a judicial judgment awarding it is issued. Accordingly, there is no legal impediment to determining compensation by agreement between the insurer and the injured party. However, in assessing it, care must be taken not to exceed the Sharia blood money due and the elements of damage giving rise to it, in accordance with Articles 221 and 230 of the Civil Code. If a dispute is raised before the court hearing the recourse action against the insured or the third party responsible for the accident concerning the appropriateness of the assessment of the agreed compensation, that court must scrutinize that appropriateness and ensure that this compensation does not involve exaggeration or collusion at the expense of the insured and the party responsible for the damage.