The Government yesterday introduced the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Bill, which aims to “radically change the relationship between consumers and insurance providers”. The proposed legislation shifts the emphasis away from a consumer’s duty to disclose all necessary information, to a requirement for insurers to ask particular questions and obtain specific information about their customers [...]
Careless and aggressive drivers are to face on the spot fines, the BBC has reported. New police powers to be announced by the Department for Transport today will mean that motorists caught driving too close for safety or overtaking in a reckless manner can expect a minimum £80 instant penalty and three points on their [...]
The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) will not be appealing against April’s High Court judgment regarding banks’ handling of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) complaints. Following a judicial review of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and Financial Ombudsman Service, the BBA had been given until 10th May to appeal against a ruling in favour of new FSA [...]
Insurers need to monitor a number of “risk hotspots” to ensure they do not fall foul of the new Bribery Act, the International Underwriting Association (IUA) has warned. According to the IUA, the broad nature of the legislation raises potential issues for both carriers and brokers in areas including the placement of business, payment of [...]
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) is calling for a total ban on referral fees, which involve details of potential personal injury claimants being sold on to solicitors and claims management firms. Last month, the ABI welcomed Justice Secretary Ken Clarke’s confirmation that no-win-no-fee rules will be reformed, saying the proposals would put the brake [...]
Insurers have lost a legal battle to overturn the Damages (Asbestos-related Conditions) (Scotland) Act 2009. Enacted by the Scottish Parliament, the legislation provides that asbestos-related pleural plaques and certain other asbestos-related conditions, constitute personal injury actionable under Scots law. Insurers have long argued that the plaques, which are areas of fibrosis present on the inner [...]
esure is claiming a legal victory having secured a custodial sentence for a Mr Shah in Bradford High Court. Mr Shah was one of many car accident claimants who presented themselves to hospitals and GPs with apparent whiplash injuries, during 2008/9. Between them, they were claiming damages for injuries costing around £400,000. esure subsequently found [...]
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) says it is taking legal action because the Lord Chancellor has failed to review the discount rate, despite announcing in November of last year that a review was taking place. The discount rate is used to calculate the amount deducted from an injured person’s compensation to account for [...]
Commercial law firm, Beechcroft, is advising insurers to “take stock” following a Supreme Court ruling yesterday that the general immunity from suit previously enjoyed by experts is to be abolished. In the leading judgment in Jones v Kaney, Lord Phillips said there was “no justification for continuing to hold expert witnesses immune from suit in [...]
Justice Secretary, Ken Clarke, has unveiled proposed reforms to the civil justice system including changes to the “no win, no fee” agreements that have been blamed for soaring car insurance premiums. The proposals, which have been launched for public consultation, include ending the recoverability of success fees and awarding successful claimants a 10% uplift in [...]
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has welcomed Justice Secretary Ken Clarke’s confirmation that “no win, no fee” rules will be reformed, saying this will “put the brake on runaway legal costs and mean a better deal for genuine claimants and insurance customers”. The ABI has long been campaigning for reforms to the current system, [...]
Law firm, Greenwoods, has announced that the entire Southampton-based insurance team of Clarke Willmott will be joining the firm on 1st May. Led by partner Rod Evans, the unit will form the basis of a new Greenwoods Southampton office. The move follows a strategic review by Clarke Willmott which concluded that the defendant insurance market [...]
Ecclesiastical has emerged victorious in a civil damages case taken by a charity employee which could have had wide-reaching implications for anyone working on a natural surface, such as grass. The case of McBride v Gables Farm Dogs and Cats Home (GFDCH) centred on alleged injuries sustained by a member of staff. In March 2008, [...]
Direct Line has lost a High Court case brought against the victim of a motorcycle accident. The insurer was ordered to pay £3.4 million in compensation for an incident that occurred in 2003 and left Mark Noble of Wareham in Dorset with extensive injuries, including a fractured pelvis that made him partially wheel-chair dependent. The [...]
A new report from the House of Commons Transport Committee names fraud as a main factor in driving up motor insurance costs, and argues that a dedicated police unit, paid for by the insurance industry, should be established to tackle the problem of false personal injury claims. The committee also highlights the extent to which [...]
The Government has published plans for making it unlawful to unfairly discriminate against someone because of their age, when providing goods and services. Under the proposals, insurance companies will still be allowed to use age when assessing risk and deciding prices. However, legislation expected to take effect in April 2012 will mean firms have to [...]
The decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to ban the use of gender in insurance policies from December 2012 has been described as “disappointing” by the Association of British Insurers (ABI). According to the ABI, over the next 20 months insurers will have to make large-scale changes including amending all affected policy documentation; [...]
The European Court of Justice’s ruling on the Gender Directive, due 1st March, could mean that the UK insurance industry will need to raise nearly £1 billion in additional capital. Unchallenged, the Directive means that UK insurers can no longer offer premiums based on gender and according to Open Europe, UK insurers will need to [...]
Cotswold Geotechnical Holdings has become the first company to be convicted of the new offence of corporate manslaughter, the Crown Prosecution Service reports. Alex Wright was 27-years-old when he died on 5th September 2008. He was working as a geologist for the company when a deep trench on a development plot in Stroud collapsed and [...]
