Mop van Tiggele-van der Velde, Professor of Insurance Law at Erasmus School of Law, has been appointed as Professor by Special Appointment of Insurance Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Curaçao (UoC). Van Tiggele-Van der Velde delivered her inaugural lecture on 19 September 2023 in the auditorium of the UoC. Her inaugural lecture was titled: Compensation for traffic damage based on third-party liability insurance. A sufficient guarantee?
Van Tiggele-Van der Velde's inaugural lecture was devoted to the obligation to take out liability insurance for motor vehicles and the chosen system for compensation for traffic damage. In Curaçao, this obligation is based on the National Motor Vehicle Ordinance. In her inaugral lecture, Van Tiggele-van der Velde discussed the disadvantages and risks associated with the insurance law compensation system based on liability law. She addressed an insurance law risk that applies specifically to Curaçao, namely the lack of a Motor Traffic Guarantee Fund. The National Motor Vehicle Ordinance states that there is a Guarantee Fund. However, the design has never been further elaborated, and this means that participation in traffic can pose an additional risk. Especially when taking into account that the figures show that the island has a substantial number of uninsured road users.
Van Tiggele-van der Velde advocates for investigating the extent to which (still) setting up a Guarantee Fund is a desirable and financially feasible solution. In her inaugural lecture, Van Tiggele-van der Velde also mapped out an alternative for settling traffic damage: the possibility of introducing a so-called direct traffic insurance. In that system, no compensation is provided through liability law and liability insurance, but a traffic event leads to a payment under your own direct insurance. In its view, the policy's scope of coverage should be determined by the government.
Van Tiggele-van der Velde: “It is important to map out – broadly – what the best feasible and most effective choice is for the island. With the subject of my inaugural lecture, I hope to provide an impetus for establishing sufficient safeguards to protect road users against the risks associated with participating in traffic. Insurance law plays a significant role in this, and that is partly why I am grateful for the establishment of the chair and the trust placed in me with my appointment.”
In addition to her appointment, Van Tiggele-van der Velde is Professor of Insurance Law at Erasmus School of Law and deputy judge at the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal. She is also co-author of the Asserdeel Verzekering and editor-in-chief of the magazine AV&S.
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