Editor's comment: Overcoming the barriers

RSA may have lost the latest County Court wrangle but remains adamant that its practice is legal, reiterating that its position is entirely in line with the 2006 case of Bee v Jensen. Whatever the rights or wrongs of the situation, the number of fellow insurers challenging its stance appears to be on the rise. However, with RSA calling a rematch on the issue in the High Court next year, everyone will be seeking a ringside seat for when that bell finally sounds.

On a more positive note – or is it – this week we saw a US reinsurance broker claiming to be the first American firm of its kind willing and able to surmount the significant barriers to entry that surround the London market since 2003, as it unveiled its new venture Tiger Risk Partners UK.

Whether this claim is as comprehensive as it sounds or not, the fact remains that barriers to entry and the high cost of doing business in the London market are becoming a recurrent theme. At the beginning of this month, Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford group chief executive Toby Esser suggested the UK-domiciled Lloyd’s broker could well be an endangered species – again citing the “huge” cost of compliance and overall cost of entry to the market. Whether Tiger taking the lead to prove that US firms can surmount the London compliance hurdles will reignite interest in new operations in the City remains to be seen.

Finally, having witnessed first-hand the enthusiasm, expertise, innovation and initiatives so prevalent among individuals and firms operating in the field of rehabilitation at last Friday’s Rehabilitation First Awards 2011, it is important to reiterate the need for action and involvement that currently exists in this important area.

With government having undertaken a major review of the UK’s £100bn bill for sickness absence earlier this year, it would be great to see that drive and momentum continuing apace. The UK rehab industry has a prime opportunity to influence government policy and press for a much-needed rehabilitation strategy for England. So let’s see players taking every opportunity to amplify their voice – and they could do worse than by attending the British Association of Rehabilitation Companies’ next meeting on Monday 26 September. Come on, let’s make a lasting difference to the UK’s record on rehab.

Lynn Rouse, editor