The new implied term to pay valid insurance claims within a reasonable time represents a significant change in insurance law, which is likely to have a real impact on the manner in which claims are handled by all parties involved. Continue reading
REUTERS |
REUTERS | Carlo Allegri
From 4 May 2017 insurers have been under a duty to pay valid insurance claims within a reasonable time. If they fail to comply, they may be liable to pay damages to an insured who has suffered additional losses as a result of the delay in payment. This obligation only applies to insurance and reinsurance contracts taken out, varied or renewed from 4 May 2017. Continue reading
REUTERS | Dado Ruvic
This time two years ago, having listened to Lord Neuberger’s speech on the future of mediation at the Civil Mediation Council’s (CMC) annual conference, I wrote about whether we may see some form of compulsory mediation scheme sooner, rather than later. Two years on and I wonder, are we really any closer to that than we were in May 2015? Continue reading
REUTERS | Paulo Whitaker
May 19, 2017
Final whistle blown on cost budgeting games
The introduction of cost budget discussion reports appears to have given rise to a new area of tactical game playing by litigators. Coulson J has issued a stern warning to parties who seek to engage in such games by putting forward unrealistically low figures for the opposing party’s costs and, in a recent case, wholly disregarded a defendant’s budget discussion report because it was considered unrealistically low. Continue reading
REUTERS | Ali Jarekji
May 19, 2017
CPRC Snippets: April 2017
The approved minutes and papers from the April 2017 Civil Procedure Rule Committee (CPRC) meeting became publicly available on 15 May 2017. There was a varied agenda, and a considerable number of developments of real interest. Continue reading
REUTERS | Ali Jarekji
May 17, 2017
CPRC Snippets: March 2017
The approved minutes and papers from the 3 March 2017 Civil Procedure Rule Committee (CPRC) meeting became publicly available on 15 May 2017. Continue reading
REUTERS | Navesh Chitrakar
Whilst it is always satisfying to win at trial, there is little which darkens the mood more than learning that your vanquished opponent is, in fact, impecunious and unable to pay your costs. The good news is that, depending on the circumstances, you could seek an order that a non-party pays the costs of the action ordered against the main opponent. Often, this will be a director of a company which, it transpires, has no assets with which to meet a costs order. Continue reading
REUTERS | Paulo Whitaker
May 12, 2017
We are not enemies of the people
2016/17 will be forever associated with elections across the globe and all that has come with them: “fake news”; hacks; leaks; U-turns; polarisation; and polls that have been, time after time, proven to be incorrect.
But for those who are not yet suffering from election apathy, The Value of Justice: The Bar Council’s Manifesto for Justice is definitely worth reading. It sets out the policies and objectives that the Bar Council would like to see enacted by any incoming government. Continue reading
REUTERS | Sharif Karim
May 11, 2017
Plevin v Paragon Finance: what the Supreme Court did (and did not) decide about conditional fee agreements (CFAs)
The case of Jarndyce v Jarndyce is notorious in Dickens’ Bleak House for appearing to go on forever, and Plevin v Paragon Finance has a lot of Bleak House about it.
This was originally a case about Payment Protection Insurance (PPI). Now it is one about costs. Continue reading
REUTERS | Ali Jarekji
May 10, 2017
New Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims
In March 2017, a new Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims was published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and will come into effect on 1 October 2017. It has taken some time to finalise, with drafters seeking to balance the need for processes not to be overly burdensome on creditors against the protection of consumers. Continue reading