PIBULJ
Are Motor Insurance Premiums Being Wrongly Inflated? - Charles Bagot, Hardwicke
17/10/12. The Office of Fair Trading (‘OFT’) suspects so and has made a referral to the Competition Commission. The latter will be shining a light into the dark (and some might say murky) world of those who arrange, pay for and profit from repairing the vehicles of and hiring replacement vehicles to ‘not-at-fault’ drivers [OFT announcement: http://www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2012/85-12 ].
The OFT suspects that drivers’ insurance premiums are being inflated by insurers passing on in higher premiums the unnecessarily high costs of repairs and...
Image ©iStockphoto.com/alekcey
Read more (PIBULJ subscribers only)...
Reap What You Sow - Michael Williamson, Williamsons Solicitors
17/10/12. It is generally acknowledged that All Fools’ Day 2013 is likely to mark the start of another huge gunfight the likes of which was really kicking off at about this time last decade. Parliament has done a bit and the rules committees are still drafting. Meanwhile, senior judiciary are reported by one leading commentator to “despair of the shambles surrounding Jackson implementation”.
During a keynote speech to the Law Society in May then Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger said that “the law on proportionate costs will have to be developed on a case by case basis. This may mean...
Image ©iStockphoto.com/AVTG
Read more (PIBULJ subscribers only)...
Fast Asleep: Adam Mansoor v EUI Ltd (In the Central London CC, 20 July 2012) - Max Withington, Horwich Farrelly
17/10/12. This claim started off life as a run of the mill fast track road traffic claim for hire and repairs, the slight twist being the defendant denied she was ever involved. Was this a case of mistaken identity? During our early investigations Mrs McKenna came across as a compelling witness providing a detailed witness statement. Her evidence was straightforward and a defence was pleaded stating she was fast asleep at the time of the alleged accident.
Despite the weight of Mrs Mckenna’s evidence...
Image ©iStockphoto.com/stacey_newman
Read more (PIBULJ subscribers only)...
Six Months To Go: April 2013 and Beyond - Julie Carlisle, Henmans LLP
17/10/12. The world of Personal Injury is currently facing unprecedented change. The Road Traffic Accident Portal has already fundamentally altered the way motor accident claims worth less than £10,000 are handled, and the proposed extension of the scheme upwards to claims worth £25,000 and sideways to non traffic accident claims means that the landscape that some of us have worked within for years is about to be remoulded beyond recognition.
Will we all survive the extension of the Portal? If the rumours are true that costs could be limited to £600 for a case worth up to £10,000 - and possibly beyond - then it becomes hard to see how many firms will be able to make a profit without receiving a steady stream of pre-medical report offers – a settlement situation that most us have rejected to date leaving us open as it does, quite apart from other considerations, to accusations of under settlement at a later stage. And yet we have also heard that...
Image ©iStockphoto.com/PeskyMonkey
Read more (PIBULJ subscribers only)...
Competition from the Private Motor Insurance Industry? - Danielle Holliday, Collins Law
17/10/12. Should the recent indication by Direct Line that it is considering entering the market for the provision of legal services send shivers down the spine of Claimant PI lawyers and members of the general (motor insuring) public? For lawyers and the general public alike there are changes afoot which, much further down the line, I am sure we will all wish had never happened.
The private motor insurance industry is a captive market. It is compulsory for everyone driving a motor vehicle on a public road to have adequate third party cover. We all know that premiums have risen and continue to rise at a phenomenal and ultimately unsustainable rate. The blame, according to...
Image ©iStockphoto.com/bagi1998
Read more (PIBULJ subscribers only)...
![Appeal judge rules that credit hire company has no costs liability following a finding of fundamental dishonesty in personal injury case: RSA v. Fastrack Solutions Limited [2023] 4 WLUK 92 - David Bowden, Erimus Chambers](/content/images/resized/images/stories/carkeys_72_72.jpg)
