19 October 2006 - Industry News

Claims management firms are to apply for authorisation by February 2007 in order to legally operate when the new regulatory framework come in force (April 2007)…
www.dca.gov.uk

Insurers could also come within the scope of the new regulatory framework, notwithstanding existing regulation from the FSA…
www.claimscouncil.org

Or not…ABI criticised the wholly unnecessary dual regulation of insurers…
www.timesonline.co.uk

Claims Standards Council announces the team that will deal with the new claims management regulator…
www.claimscouncil.org

31 January 2011 - PI Practitioner

Thompson v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis [1998] 1 QB 498

Aggravated Damages - Award

Aggravating damages can be awarded where there are aggravating features about a case which would lead to the claimant not receiving sufficient compensation for injury suffered if the award of damages were restricted to the normal compensatory award. Aggravating features can include humiliating circumstances, conduct of the Defendant that shows it behaved in a high handed, insulting, malicious or oppressive manner. Aggravating features can also include the way the trial or litigation is conducted.

Aggravated damages are not intended to be penal, and the total figure for basic and aggravated damages should not exceed fair compensation for the injury the claimant has suffered.

Aggravated Damages – Value

The Court also gave guidance in this case on the value of awards for aggravated damages. The Court said that the award would not normally be less than £1,000 (which they accepted should be updated for inflation), and would not normally exceed twice the basic award, except where, on the particular facts, the basic damages were modest.

Rookes v Barnard [1964] AC 1129

Exemplary Damages – Award

Exemplary damages are intended to be punitive, and are available in only limited scenarios: Oppressive, arbitrary or unconstitutional conduct by government servants; as a result of tortuous conduct calculated to result in profit; where expressly authorised by statute.

For an award to be made, the Claimant must be the victim of the punishable behaviour. Awards should be moderate, as they should not amount to a greater punishment than if the conduct were criminal, and the means of the Defendant should be taken into account. Furthermore, amounts awarded as basic and aggravated should be taken into account, as it is the whole sum payable which must be considered: in some cases the basic award will be sufficient punishment.

Exemplary Damages – Value

From Thompson above (the sums again should be updated for inflation:

Where exemplary damages are appropriate they are unlikely to be less than £5,000, otherwise it is probably not an appropriate case for an award of exemplary damages. In this case (false imprisonment/malicious prosecution) it was said that action must be particularly deserving of condemnation to merit a sum of £25,000 and £50,000 should be regarded as the absolute maximum.

30 January 2008 Summary

NEWSLETTER

LAW JOURNAL

Personal Injury Articles

The Impact of the Changes to The Highway Code - Anthony Johnson, 1 Temple Gardens
On 1st October of last year the Department of Transport published a new edition of the Highway Code, the first comprehensive revision of the text since 1999.

Surveillance Evidence: Is it Always Necessary to Stay Within the Limits of the Law? - Sarah Prager, 1 Chancery Lane
This article examines the use of surveillance evidence which has been obtained by dubious or illegal methods: is it admissible, and if so, under what circumstances?

Deaths in Hospital: Part II: Savage v South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust - Eliot Woolf & Christopher Wilson-Smith QC, Outer Temple Chambers
We recently wrote about the first instance decision in Savage v South Essex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust [2007] LS Law Med 291, in which Swift J held that the death of a patient compulsorily detained under the Mental Health Act had to prove gross negligence in order to establish a breach of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. On 20th December 2007, the decision was reversed by the Court of Appeal ([2007] EWCA Civ 1375).

Competently Managing Damages - William Latimer-Sayer, Cloisters
It is trite law that those who lack capacity may recover damages to reflect the likely costs of managing their award which would not otherwise have been incurred. Those costs would include Court of Protection fees and also the cost of appointing a professional trustee or a deputy under the Mental Capacity Act 2005...

Clinical Negligence Articles

The Vexation Of Indexation – A Running Story? - Richard Booth, 1 Crown Office Row
Richard Booth looks at the recent Court of Appeal decision in Thompstone and related appeals and asks whether the House of Lords is likely to be any more taken with the Defendants’ arguments than was the Court of Appeal.

Medico-Legal Articles, Edited by Dr Hugh Koch

Psychology for Lawyers: Recent Advances - Dr Hugh Koch, Hugh Koch Associates
Medico-legal experts and lawyers working together have the necessity and opportunity to learn about each other’s skills and professional background...

Presumed Consent in Organ Donation: The Devil is in the Detail - Odette Hutchinson, Birmingham City University
This article follows the recent publication of the Organs for Donation Task Force report, "Organs for Transplants", and considers the debate surrounding a change in the law in favour of presumed consent in organ donation.

Mediation & ADR Articles, Edited by Justin Patten, Human Law

Personal Injury Mediation: What is Coming Down the Track and When Will it Hit Me? - Tim Wallis, Expedite Resolution Ltd
From 1999 to 2007 PI practitioners could risk ignoring ADR and mediation without much real chance of being hurt by costs sanctions. This article will spell out how and why things are starting to change and what PI practitioners might do about it.