The Abu Dhabi Commercial Court of First Instance ordered a young driver to pay Dh122,973 to an insurance company after he caused a crash while driving under the influence of alcohol. The accident damaged public property and injured a passenger in the vehicle.

According to a report published on October 15, 2026, the insurer filed a lawsuit against the driver after settling the accident claims. It sought reimbursement of the amount paid, along with annual legal interest of 5 per cent, court costs and legal fees.

🟢 Details of the Dh122,973 claim

Court documents showed that the driver’s vehicle was covered by third-party insurance and that the insurer had paid the following amounts after the accident:

🔸 Dh116,203 for damage to public property

🔸 Dh6,770 for ambulance services and the medical transport of the injured passenger

The payments totalled Dh122,973, which the insurer sought to recover from the driver responsible for the accident.

🟢 Why was the insurer entitled to recover the money?

After reviewing the evidence, including the accident report, the court confirmed that the driver had been under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.

Under Clause 6 of the recovery provisions in the UAE’s unified motor vehicle third-party liability insurance policy, an insurer may, in such circumstances, recover from the driver responsible for the accident any amounts paid to compensate third parties.

The court also found that the insurer had submitted sufficient evidence of the compensation payments, while the driver had provided no evidence to challenge the documents.

The driver also failed to attend the hearings despite being legally notified.

🟢 Final court ruling

The Abu Dhabi Commercial Court of First Instance ultimately ordered the driver to repay Dh122,973.

He was also ordered to pay annual legal interest of 3 per cent from the date the lawsuit was filed until full settlement, along with court costs and Dh200 in legal fees.

The case demonstrates that third-party insurance does not necessarily exempt a driver who causes an accident while under the influence of alcohol from financial liability. After compensating those affected, an insurer may recover the amounts paid from the driver.