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Articles for March 2006
Contract to stop students suing university
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01 March 2006
Oxford University is reported to have drawn up a draft contract which students would have to sign, which would legally bind them to attend lectures. It would also prevent students from suing the university for..
Plaintiff lawyers call for waiver of limitation laws
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01 March 2006
Plaintiff lawyers are calling for a waiver of limitation laws in relation to pleural plaques cases, so that cases already in progress do not run out of time before the appeals are heard. Similarly, cases..
Price-fixing companies can be sued
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01 March 2006
The Times has reported that a landmark European court case will make it easier for consumers to sue companies guilty of illegal price-fixing. According to the Times, an advocate-general to the European Court of Justice..
Lloyd’s predicts Asian liability growth
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01 March 2006
Lloyd’s has released new research giving the insurance industry clear guidance on key developments in Asia. The research, “New Openings – quantifying opportunities in Asia,” earmarks four specialist classes of business for growth: marine cargo,..
Heath Lambert on construction insurance markets
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01 March 2006
Heath Lambert has revealed that the main message for construction firms is simple: risk management and health and safety issues will continue to drive the construction insurance markets this year, particularly in the UK.
“It has..
R&SA provides capacity for Saturn’s PI portfolio
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01 March 2006
Royal & SunAlliance (R&SA) is to be the sole provider of capacity for Saturn’s £18mn professional indemnity (PI) portfolio as from March 1, 2006. Saturn, part of the Martello Group which also includes PI Direct,..
Article looks at the “Liability Dilemma”
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01 March 2006
Vision may be the most important element required to underwrite liability risk, according to Ajay Gupta, marketing leader of GE Insurance Solutions. Mr Gupta says insurers tend to look backward at historical loss experience but..
New package aimed at charities from Royal & SunAlliance
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01 March 2006
Royal & SunAlliance (R&SA) has launched Sector 3, a new “proposition” designed specifically for charities and not-for-profit organisations. R&SA says that Sector 3, designed in consultation with specialist charity brokers, offers a range of insurance..
Council’s crackdown on bogus personal injury claims
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01 March 2006
Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council’s campaign to weed out bogus personal injury compensation claims should become a model for councils throughout the country, according to the Association of British Insurers.
The Council’s crackdown on fraudsters who make..
Cost of bullying claims up by 225% in five years
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01 March 2006
New figures released by Zurich Municipal show that over the past five years the cost of bullying claims has risen by 225%. The trend, however, is from the increased cost of claims as opposed to..
RICS attains Designated Professional Body status
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01 March 2006
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has become one of only 10 government recognised Designated Professional Bodies (DPB). RICS is now directly authorised by HM Treasury to license and regulate the thousands of surveyors who..
Healthcare professionals must do more to reduce risks
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01 March 2006
Healthcare managers and professionals are being urged to take more aggressive steps to manage the increasing costs of healthcare risk. Robert Wendin, the European Healthcare Practice leader at Marsh, said that while other industries such..
EOC consults on Gender Equality Duty
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01 March 2006
The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has launched a three-month consultation on the Gender Equality Duty – “the most significant change to gender equality legislation in 30 years.” The Commission is encouraging public sector bodies to..
Equality Act gains Royal Assent
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01 March 2006
The Equality Act has gained Royal Assent and as a result, “a powerful new body to put equality at the heart of modern Britain” has been given the go-ahead, says the Government.
Individuals experiencing discrimination and..
Priorities for occupational safety and health research
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01 March 2006
Current trends in society and work organisation are creating new risks and putting new demands on occupational safety and health research. This is according to a working paper entitled “Priorities for occupational safety and health..
Safety of patients and staff is paramount, says Lord Hunt
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01 March 2006
Lord Hunt, Minister for health and safety, has warned that: “The safety of patients and staff is paramount. The costs of getting it wrong are unacceptable, both morally and economically.”
Addressing healthcare staff and patient safety..
HSE targets slips and trips in construction
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01 March 2006
The HSE is beginning a nationwide inspection programme targeting building sites with poor housekeeping. The aim is to raise the industry’s awareness of the potentially serious consequences of untidy sites and therefore to reduce the..
HSE warns over paint sprayers and asthma risk
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01 March 2006
Paint sprayers in vehicle bodyshops are around 80 times more likely to develop asthma at work than the rest of the working population, according to the Health and Safety Executive.
Dr Mark Piney, an HSE specialist..
Review of airline insurance market from Aon
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01 March 2006
The aviation insurance sector is likely to see a shift in global balance away from North America in 2006, according to the findings of Aon’s Aviation Airline Insurance Market Review of 2005. Europe and Asia’s..
UK P&I Club in “very satisfactory” renewal
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01 March 2006
The UK P&I Club is reported to have completed a “very satisfactory renewal.” A spokesman told Insurance Day: “The club’s objective was to establish premium levels consistent with the anticipated volume and value of future..
S&P report on Protection & Indemnity Clubs
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01 March 2006
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services is maintaining its stable outlook on the protection & indemnity (P&I) market, according to a new report entitled “Insurance Industry Risk Analysis: Protection & Indemnity Clubs”.
The majority of P&I clubs..
Jury awards down in US for third year running
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01 March 2006
The US National Law Journal has reported that the total amount awarded by juries last year in the largest cases in the US declined for the third consecutive year. Based on analysis of the VerdictSearch..
Hanson announces asbestos insurance settlement
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01 March 2006
Hanson PLC, the international building materials company, has announced that one of its US subsidiaries, responsible for approximately 20% of the group’s present asbestos costs, has reached a settlement with its insurers.
The settlement is effective..
US asbestos fund is defeated in Senate
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01 March 2006
The US Senate rejected a procedural motion on the proposed US legislation for the creation of a $140bn national asbestos compensation fund. As a result, the asbestos-reform bill could be shelved for the remainder of..
No increased risk of breast cancer from exposure to EMFs
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01 March 2006
The independent Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation (AGNIR) has published a report that examines whether electromagnetic fields (EMFs) associated with the supply and use of electricity can influence the risk of breast cancer.
The report concludes..
Liability implications of Avian Flu spreading to UK
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01 March 2006
An outbreak of Avian Flu in the UK and possible human mutation of the virus will undoubtedly have an impact on businesses’ insurance programmes, regardless of size or sector, according to Marsh.
The broker has outlined..
‘Producer’ can include a distribution subsidiary
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01 March 2006
The European Court of Justice has ruled, in relation to liability for defective products, that the term ‘producer’ can include a distribution subsidiary.
In November 1992, a child was vaccinated with an antihaemophilus vaccine dose in..
European product recalls double in 2005
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01 March 2006
The number of reported European recalls of dangerous and faulty consumer goods more than doubled last year, according to the latest European Commission (EC) figures analysed by PricewaterhouseCoopers. There has also been a significant increase..
New case of variant-CJD from blood transfusion
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01 March 2006
A new case of variant-CJD associated with a blood transfusion has recently been diagnosed. The patient developed symptoms of vCJD about eight years after receiving a blood transfusion from a donor who developed symptoms of..
Sensor gives increased warning of fetal hypoxia
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01 March 2006
Researchers at the University of Warwick, and the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, have devised a new sensor which has the power to dramatically improve the amount of early warning doctors and midwives..
BMA advice on combating MRSA
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01 March 2006
Doctors, nurses, other hospital staff, patients and visitors all have a role to play in preventing and controlling healthcare associated infections, according to a BMA report. The BMA adds that “while there is not a..
Second action and limitation periods
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01 March 2006
Where a claimant brought a second action against the same defendant, following the dismissal of a previous action, the court was not precluded from exercising its discretion under s 33 of the Limitation Act 1980..
Settlement offer is not unlimited
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01 March 2006
An offer to settle court proceedings under Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules carried an implied term that it would not be available for acceptance after the hearing ended and the court had reserved..
Future annual losses at other than RPI increases
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01 March 2006
A court has declined to strike out that part of the claimant’s case which seeks future annual losses at other than RPI increases
The claimant was so severely injured that he was unable to work again..
Mental incapacity and the conduct of litigation
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01 March 2006
The established principles relating to mental incapacity and the conduct of litigation were to be applied to the compromise of an action by a claimant before he became a “patient” within the meaning of CPR..
Fall from hotel window not reasonably foreseeable
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01 March 2006
A hotel guest falling from a bedroom window was, in the circumstances, not reasonably foreseeable and did not give rise to a finding under the Occupiers Liability Act 1957.
A man suffered severe head injuries and..
Immediate notification requirement and lack of cover
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01 March 2006
An insurer which rejected a claim altogether on the ground of lack of cover did not thereby waive subsequent reliance on the insured’s failure to comply with a requirement of immediate notification.
The Court of Appeal..
Availability of before-the-event insurance
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01 March 2006
The claimant had sustained personal injury whilst a passenger on a bus that had been struck by a lorry. Before-the-event (BTE) had been available to her as an extension to the motor insurance policy of..
Breach of Conditional Fee Agreements Regs
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01 March 2006
The claimant was involved in a road traffic accident and commenced proceedings under The Accident Group Scheme for damages for personal injury. He advised his solicitor that he did not have legal expense insurance and..
No duty owed by fire escape owner
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01 March 2006
A fire escape was not itself dangerous so that, where evidence suggested there was no element of any disrepair or structural deficiency in its state, a child who chose to climb a fire escape knowing..
ABI and APIL welcome select committee report
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01 March 2006
The report on compensation culture by the House of Commons Select Committee on Constitutional Affairs has been met with general approval from all sides. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) said that the Committee’s call..
Compensation culture “much exaggerated” says Cherie Booth
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01 March 2006
The Prime Minister’s wife Cherie Booth has told the press that she does not think that there is a compensation culture in Britain, saying that the issue had been “much exaggerated”. She talked to the..
£5.5mn in damages for crash victim
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01 March 2006
The High Court has awarded £5.5mn in damages to a woman who was left disabled after a motorway crash. She was left paralysed and wheelchair bound after she was forced off the motorway by a..
£200,000 for mistake during routine operation
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01 March 2006
A woman has been awarded £200,000 compensation for a mistake made during a routine ovarian cyst operation, which led to the patient requiring a colostomy for life. During the routine operation, the bowel was damaged..
£45,000 to Prince Harry’s former art teacher
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01 March 2006
Eton College has paid out £45,000 in damages to an art teacher who claimed unfair dismissal and bullying. The art teacher had claimed that Prince Harry had cheated in his A-level art exam. She told..
Fingerprint police officer wins £750,000
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01 March 2006
The Scottish Executive and the Scottish Criminal Records Office have paid £750,000 in damages in an out-of-court settlement to a former police officer. The officer had been falsely accused of leaving a fingerprint at a..
£330,000 settlement
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01 March 2006
A council has paid £330,000 in an out-of-court settlement with a teacher who was threatened at school by an intruder. The teacher was severely traumatised and never returned to work. Few details of the case..
£20,000 for bullying at school
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01 March 2006
A woman who sued her council over bullying when she was at primary school has won £20,000. The woman, who is now 23, was bullied from the age of four to 11. The money was..
£1mn for lift fall injuries
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01 March 2006
A man who survived a 150 feet fall down a lift shaft has been awarded £1mn in compensation in a settlement. He was working as a lift engineer on a maintenance platform at Canary Wharf,..
£3.88mn for injured bike rider
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01 March 2006
A motorbike rider has been awarded £3.88mn in compensation after he was injured in a collision with a car. The bike was hit by the car and the motorbike rider was left with brain damage..
Unfair dismissal after disability claim
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01 March 2006
A print worker has won £45,000 after winning her case for unfair dismissal and unfair selection for redundancy. Her case was based on the belief that her employer had never forgiven her for taking legal..
Award for driver with injury to spine
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01 March 2006
A Sheffield man has been awarded £47,000 in an out-of-court settlement by his former employers after injuring his back at work and sustaining a permanent disability. The man damaged his spine whilst working as a..
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