The claimant appealed the Tribunal’s decision that she was not involved in an “accident”. The claimant was injured in the back seat of her car when coffee was spilled on her due to the lid of a coffee cup coming off. The Court allowed the appeal, holding that the incident was an “accident” under the SABS definition. The Court held that the Tribunal erred in failing to follow the Court of Appeal’s decision in Dittman v. Aviva, which was a case involving similar facts. As in Dittman, the purpose test and the causation test were both met. The inadvertent spill of hot coffee purchased from a drive-through was part of the ordinary use and operation of a vehicle.
