Personal injury (PI)
Tory manifesto pledges to 'consider ban' on cold calling for personal injury
The Conservative Party has pledged to consider a ban on cold calling for personal injury claims if it wins the general election.
ERS appoints ex-AA head of counter fraud
ERS has hired ex-AA head of counter fraud, Steve Gaywood, as the new head of counter fraud for the syndicate.
ABI calls for dual rate for personal injury payments in Ogden rethink
The Association of British Insurers has suggested changes to the way the personal injury discount rate is set, calling for a dual-rate system for calculating lump sum payments in personal injury claims.
Horwich Farrelly to focus on defendant insurance work after closure of claimant arm Zest Legal
Horwich Farrelly has unveiled plans to shut its claimant legal arm, with the 42 staff impacted expected to be redeployed elsewhere in the business.
Claims firm fined £400,000 for 100 million nuisance calls
A claims management company has been fined a record fine of £400,000 for making over 100 million nuisance calls.
Whiplash reform shelved in light of general election
The government's proposed whiplash reform has been kicked into the long grass as a result of the general election.
AIG to take $100m hit from Ogden change
AIG expects to record a $100m (£77.9m) hit to its Q1 2017 pre-tax profits as a result of the cut to the Ogden discount rate.
General election 'could delay whiplash reform for years'
Theresa May’s decision to hold a snap general election could delay the Ministry of Justice’s proposed whiplash reforms for years, campaign group Access to Justice has claimed.
Blog: Injured claimants are not lobby fodder
I spent 15 years working for a number of insurance companies before ‘crossing the floor’ to be the managing director of Minster Law, a claimant firm. Whether moving from insurance to the law is a step up the public approval rankings or a step down is a…
Editor's comment: Feeling lucky?
My Irish grandmother always said bad things come in threes. In the last 18 months the insurance industry has faced bad returns on investments, several increases to insurance premium tax and now the huge change to the Ogden discount rate, so the sector…
HCML acquires Excell Medical, opens Bristol office
Rehabilitation firm HCML has acquired Excell Medical Reporting, a Medco-registered reporting company, and opened a new office in Bristol.
In Depth: Ogden outrage – dismantling the discount rate
The decision to cut the Ogden discount rate for the first time in 16 years sent shock waves through the industry that will be felt for months and years to come.
Blog: The future of CMCs
Listening to the entirety of the Second Reading debate on the Prisons and Courts Bill last week, I was reminded once again of the pitfalls of short-sighted and ill-thought-out policy changes in the claims sector.
Blog: Whiplash reforms were supposed to be about fraud
There is something rather strange happening in the debate around the whiplash reforms. For all the sound and fury across the entrenched battle lines with which we are all familiar, there does appear to be a consensus forming across the divide.
MPs investigate whiplash claims
The Justice Committee is launching a short inquiry into whiplash claims and on government plans to raise the small claims limit for personal injury.
ABI blasts 'fake news' report on falling whiplash claims
The Association of British Insurers has branded a Capital Economics report into the falling rate of soft tissue injury claims as “fake news”.
This week in Post: Renewing your motor policy? That’s Numberwang
Renewing your motor insurance policy as a consumer feels like an instalment of Numberwang, with numbers seemingly plucked out of thin air.
Axa's Brendan McCafferty on the consequences of the discount rate
There must be a better time to start your role as the CEO of an insurance company. A few weeks into the job, I arrived at work on a Monday morning knowing a decision had just been made that would simultaneously hike premiums for millions of motorists and…
Blog: Ogden predicted a nasty surprise way back in 1984
The late Sir Michael Ogden might be chuckling somewhere at the recent discount rate events.
30 claims handler jobs at risk at Direct Line
Direct Line Group has placed 30 claims handler jobs under review.
ABI's James Dalton on sorting out the discount rate mess
I am living the discount rate at the moment. I have lost count of the number of meetings I have attended, legal opinions I have read and conversations with insurance company CEOs I have had on this complex issue.
Blog: Insurers could regret whiplash reforms
In the end, the whiplash reform moved remarkably quickly. After 12 months of deliberating, we only had six weeks of consultation, followed by seven weeks of considering what to do. The tangible result was the compiling of seven hurriedly drafted clauses…
Esure unveils plan to ride out reinsurance rate rises
CEO also says business will 'shrink' home portfolio
Blog: Vnuk opens fraud front
The Vnuk ruling has raised the prospect of a much wider compulsory insurance regime being introduced in the UK, requiring vehicles such as golf buggies, quad bikes and farm vehicles to be insured, even when used exclusively on private land. The…