Post Magazine - 21 November 2013

In this week's edition, industry players are hopeful long-awaited legislation striking out fraudulent third-party claims in their entirety could be on the horizon after a Law Commission consultation received 16 responses out of 18 in favour of reviewing the law.

Last June the Supreme Court ruled in Fairclough Homes v Summers that in "exceptional circumstances" insurance companies have the right to fully strike out third-party claims if any element of the claim is found to be fraudulent. Despite this the court did not apply the principle, and claimant Shaun Summers was permitted to keep 10%of his original £838 000 claim against Zurich following injuries sustained at work. However, the Summers ruling was applied last month when Barbara Fari's £750 000 personal injury claim was struck out after surveillance footage showed she had exaggerated the extent of her injuries.

In other news insurance fraud bosses have praised the ‘Get a Real Deal' campaign - an industry initiative designed to raise public awareness about the risk of ghost brokers for its "entrepreneurial approach" in tackling a growing criminal element; Markerstudy has been tipped to transform the loss-making retail insurance businesses it has acquired from Capita into a success by market insiders, who believe the Gibraltar-based insurer will follow up its latest deal with a renewed bid for Brightside; and brokers could be halving their potential target market by not offering customers premium finance payment instalments, according to market analysts.

Covéa commercial lines director Simon Cooter is in residence in the C-Suite this week to explain how brokers and insurers working exclusively could take the cost factor out of clients' decisions. There is also comment from the Association of British Insurers' James Dalton who talks about how all parties are set to benefit from the My Licence DVLA data sharing project.

This issue also contains a 12-page section on the Loss adjusting sector. Based on comprehensive front-line input from more than 150 claims professionals working at insurers and broking firms, the Loss Adjusters Insight Report 2013 provides detailed operational insights on the UK's nine most commonly used adjusting firms. While the loss adjuster listings 2013 give a snapshot of the industry based on data from the firms themselves.

As fraudsters and claims management companies begin to feel the impact of whiplash reform, Francesca Nyman asks if industrial deafness is becoming the new problem area for insurers; and with a increasing number of direct players entering the high net worth arena, Tim Evershed investigates how brokers can stand out from the crowd and retain their position as leaders of the market.

Enjoy the read!