Legal
BGL's Minster Law reports £35m loss as IPO talks ongoing
BGL Group's legal services business recorded a £35m loss in the financial year ended 30 June 2015 as group profit before tax fell to £70.4m (2014: £82.7m).
Brain Training: 10 things you need to know about ... workplace monitoring
1. Insurance firms are increasingly well informed about the risks and obligations entailed in handling client data, but often less so about personal data relating to their own employees.
Legal Update: Take care over CFA transfers
Transferring a PI claim to another law firm could be bad news for the claimant as this recent case shows, but also, most welcome for insurers, argue Joanne Staphnill and Abigail Taylor
Vicarious liability broadening unlikely to impact policy wordings
Insurers are unlikely to tighten policy wordings in light of a Supreme Court ruling relating to the vicarious liability doctrine, as lawyers warn the industry to expect further widening of the principle in the future.
Fraudsters ordered to pay £40,000 in crash-for-cash scam
A group of four people found to have deliberately caused a car crash with an innocent van driver has been ordered to pay £40,000 to the victim.
Jail for insurance fraudster after failure to repay £13k
A man who failed to repay more than £13,000 following his conviction for medical insurance fraud has now been jailed.
Europe: Telematics and the gender directive
The Gender Directive put a brake on insurers' underwriting purely on the basis of gender. So has it encouraged the development of telematics which helps them price in way that does not differentiate rates between males and females?
Blog: Point of reference
Key changes form part of these new rules, as firms will have to ask former employers for regulatory references about the employee going back six years.
Claims Club: SRA to conduct a thematic review following IFT’s call for tougher action on CMCs
The Solicitors Regulatory Authority will conduct a review into the issues and concerns raised by the Insurance Fraud Taskforce Report earlier in the year.
Legal Update: A sea of trouble for conveyancing
Flood Re is widely welcomed, but it also poses risks for those working in the property field and insurers may see a rise in claims
Claims Club: Industry should be prepared for online court to become a reality in the near future
Insurers and their lawyers have been warned to take the prospect of an online court seriously and advised that the pace of change is likely to take many by surprise.
Claims Club: Late payment legislation to add ‘new pressure’ to difficult fraud cases
Insurers have been urged to prepare a late payment strategy now, after an insurance barrister warned the late payment clause, due to be introduced with the Enterprise Bill, will add additional pressures in suspected fraud cases.
Supreme Court ruling in Knauer could lead to 10% increase in reserves
A ruling by the Supreme Court looks set to add to insurers' difficulties in calculating what constitutes the appropriate lump sum to set aside for serious personal injury cases.
Insurers face reserve increases after Supreme Court Knauer ruling
A seminal ruling by the Supreme Court last week means insurers potentially face substantive increases in claims costs on fatal accident claims.
US sanctions strong disincentive for Iranian cover despite lifting of EU restrictions
Banks' reluctance to process payments is a major barrier for insurers wanting to conduct Iran-related business following European Union sanctions relief last month, while legal research has found remaining US primary sanctions are quelling the appetite…
Blog: Controlling costs means fixing them
In line with Lord Justice Jackson, the Forum of Insurance Lawyers believes the time is right to extend the fixed recoverable costs regime.
Quiz of the week – 19 February
Test your knowledge of the week's insurance news, with the Post insurance quiz of the week.
Average property damage claim cost more than doubled in past decade
The average cost of property damage claims has more than doubled in the past 10 years, with pay-outs totalling £4bn per year, according to research from law firm BLM.
Legal Update: Time for insurers to get ready
A growing number of cyber incidents means insurers must prepare strategies to deal with a range of new business interruption liabilities.
Claimant law firm billed £27k as Allianz PI claim is struck out
A claimant solicitors firm has been ordered to pay £27,000 of defendant legal costs after a personal injury claim lodged with Allianz was struck out by a court.
SRA consults on minimum terms changes to PII policies
The Solicitors Regulation Authority is consulting on technical changes to the minimum terms and conditions that need to be included in professional indemnity insurance policies.
MoJ proposes capping CMCs' PPI fees
The Ministry of Justice has proposed capping fees charged by claims management companies handling mis-sold payment protection insurance claims, in a consultation launching today (15 February).
Gallagher pleased with injunction success
Arthur J Gallagher has said it is pleased with a court order granted in the Portsoken case, which it stated ensures "valuable and confidential information" belonging to the firm is located and deleted from Portsoken's systems.