A heart attack or epilepsy in a driver does not usually exclude liability insurance in the event of damage caused to the vehicle.

1. Legal basis

The liability of the vehicle owner (and therefore the third party liability insurer) for damage caused while driving the vehicle is based on risk principle (Article 436 §1 of the Civil Code).
You can only free yourself if the damage has occurred only as a result of:

1. force majeure,
2. the sole fault of the injured party,
3. the exclusive fault of a third party for which the holder is not responsible.

2. Heart attack and "force majeure"

• Higher power this event external of an extraordinary nature (e.g. flood, hurricane).
• A heart attack has internal character — it results from the driver's health condition, so does not meet the criterion of "externality".
• The Supreme Court ruled in the same way in cases involving strokes, fainting or seizures – they are not force majeure.

3. Exception – absolute unpredictability

Courts allow exclusion of liability when:

• heart attack was the first episode in life,
• driver he had no symptoms or contraindications to drive a vehicle,
• the event was sudden, completely unpredictable and inevitable.

Then, you can attempt to demonstrate that this event caused the damage and meets the criteria for exoneration. In practice, proving this is difficult—you need strong medical documentation and expert opinions.

4. Examples from case law

• Supreme Court, 9/07/1962, I CR 54/62 – driver illness (e.g. loss of consciousness) is not force majeure, because the source is internal.
• SA Katowice, 12/06/2014, V ACa 914/13 – the driver’s fainting does not exempt him from liability unless it is proven to be completely unpredictable and there are no previous symptoms.
• Supreme Court, 28/02/2020, II CSK 668/18 – the burden of proof of exoneration rests with the defendant.

5. Application

Heart attack in most cases it does not exclude liability under third party liability insurance.
The insurer usually pays compensation to the injured parties, and any disputes only concern recourse or exceptional situations when it is proven that the event was completely unforeseeable and not the fault of the insured.