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- Home/Publications/Liability Risk and Insurance
Brokers’ liability in Hungary
The Hungarian government is producing a draft decree on liability insurance of insurance brokers. An amendment to the Insurance Act will double the level of liability cover that insurance brokers are required to carry, bringing it up to a minimum of..
Online Published Date:
01 March 2001
Appeared in issue:
128 - 01 March 2001
Recall initiative
With the steady increase in the number of product recalls, the Trading Standards Institute has launched a Product Recall Task Force consisting of members of the Trading Standards Institute, the Department of Trade & Industry, insurers in the..
Online Published Date:
01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Fractional air cover
AIG has developed an insurance programme for individuals and companies with part ownership of an aircraft – those who share the purchase or lease of a plane. Four mix-and-match covers provide for excess liability, nonowned aircraft liability,..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Loss data withheld by broker
The circuit court for St Louis, Missouri has ruled that London-based Lloyd Thompson (since merged with Jardine Insurance Brokers) withheld important loss information from US insurers. As a result its client General Dynamics can recover no more than..
Online Published Date:
01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Californian power crisis ‘liability’
California’s power crisis, which has been ongoing since the start of the year and is threatening a heavy hit on international credit reinsurers, could also lead to wider litigation and insurance involvement. So warns Julian James,..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Allstate discouraged claims
In a suit brought by Pennsylvania attorney-general Mike Fisher, Allstate Insurance was held liable for illegally discouraging consumers from hiring attorneys to assist them in personal injury claims. The court ruled that by sending a pamphlet headed..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Awards and settlements
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB)
is under attack following two awards arising from a 1996 machete attack on children of St Luke’s School, Wolverhampton. The appeals panel increased compensation for now-eight-year-old Francesca..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Fifth Conference on Behalf of the Professional Indemnity Forum
27–29 March • Queen’s College, Cambridge • Evolving Professions – Emerging Exposures • As always, the conference will analyse recent developments, with a detailed look at specific professions where there have been..
Online Published Date:
01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Online court consultation
A consultation paper issued by the Court Service examines the possibility of replacement of many county courts with virtual courts, where all business would be conducted by e-mail and video conference. A pilot scheme for fixed-sum claims is due for..
Online Published Date:
01 March 2001
Appeared in issue:
128 - 01 March 2001
Employers’ liability pool?
..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Law firms to join GISC
Those law firms selling or advising clients on insurance products are likely to require membership of the new General Insurance Standards Council (GISC). Most recent interpretation suggests that without this they will be unable to deal with GISC..
Online Published Date:
01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
New Japanese motor liability body planned
As part of a shakeup of compulsory motor liability insurance (CALI) in Japan, a new semiautonomous but government appointee-controlled body is to be set up in 2002.
Along with the end of the system whereby a proportion of motor premiums was taken by..
Online Published Date:
01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Motor Vehicles Act in India
On appeal against decisions of the Accident Claims Tribunal and the Allahabad high court, the supreme court of India has made a number of reinterpretations of the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA). Interest of compensation has been reduced from 18% to 9%,..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Premium freeze to EC court
The European Commission is referring Italy and Greece to the European Court of Justice in respect of the freezing of civil liability motor insurance and – additionally for Greece – difficulties put in the way of non-Greek insurance..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Higher Italian motor tariffs
Italian insurance association ANIA warns of higher premiums if the Senate approves the higher tariff of compensation for less serious injuries set by the lower house of parliament. More generous than expected, the daily payment for temporary total..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Compulsory motor liability in Slovakia
Although motor liability cover in Slovakia becomes a legal requirement from 28 February 2001, liberalisation has been delayed until the start of 2002. This is at the request of the Slovak Association of Insurance Companies, uncertain whether..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Unions are not insurers
A Dutch appeals court has criticised the activities of two trade unions in offering legal expenses insurance to members and their families for ƒ1 for up to ƒ10,000 worth of advice. Following a complaint by the association of insurers that..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
New liability products in Taiwan
Responding to changing conditions, including the forthcoming entry into the World Trade Organisation, the Taiwanese Ministry of Finance is encouraging the development of a wider range of policies by the insurance industry.
Recently approved is a new..
Online Published Date:
01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Travel insurance ‘responds’ to DVT
Specialist travel insurance firm Club Direct is making specific changes to its travel policies to enable passengers who suffer deep vein thrombosis (DVT) to sue airlines. This is through legal costs availability of up to £25,000. While..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Reliance moves into runoff
Reliance Insurance, the troubled US liability insurer, has put its London operation, Reliance National Insurance (Europe), into voluntary runoff. It is believed a buyer had been sought since last summer, since the US parent faced sizeable exposures..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Chester Street
Questions are being asked as to how Chester Street, formerly Iron Trades Holdings, has been forced into provisional liquidation with liabilities thought to exceed assets of about £200mn, and who will see that many thousands of asbestos victims..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Claims Direct
As the dispute on recovery of after-the-event premiums from the insurers of losing parties drags on, Claims Direct is planning to bring a series of test cases to achieve clear resolution. The current cost of cover – for those with an above 50%..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
£700,000 fine, compensation could reach £31mn
United Friendly Insurance and Refuge Assurance, both taken over by Royal London (which is prepared to pick up the tab) last year, have been fined £700,000 for misselling with-profits endowment savings policies. Imposing the third-largest fine..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Solicitor trustee duty of care
A greater duty of care will devolve onto solicitor trustees, of an estimated total of £35bn of investments, with the implementation of the Trustee Act 2000. While allowing a wider discretion of investment, it will also require more energetic..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Tireless and Kursk
Eight months after suffering damage to its reactor system, UK nuclear submarine HMS Tireless
remains in Gibraltar, unrepaired. The latest delay comes from objections voiced by a panel of nuclear experts consulted by the Gibraltar government –..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Pesticide residue reports
Reports from the Pesticides Safety Directorate are now published quarterly rather than once a year, to give more timely information. They can be viewed at www.pesticides.gov.uk or by phoning 01904 455758.
The first report, covering the early part of..
Online Published Date:
01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Smog damage confirmed
In the first study to examine the widely-held view that urban smog causes lung damage, researchers at the University of California, led by Charles Plopper, confirm the damaging effects. A period of breathing ozone, a key component of urban smog, led..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Puerto Rico oil spill settlement
US$83.5mn is to be paid by Caribbean Petroleum, MetLife Capital and Water Quality Insurance Syndicate to the US and Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for cleanup of a 1994 800,000-gallon oil spill from a barge. This includes damages for fishers, hotels..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Largest nonoil cleanup
Four leading chemical companies will together pay US$73mn for cleaning up DDT-contaminated waste dumped near California’s Santa Catalina island, the largest sum ever paid for environmental cleanup other than oil. Montrose Chemical, Aventis,..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Absolute pollution exclusion ‘wobble’
A decision of the Louisiana supreme court in Doerr v Mobil Oil Co
, overruling its own earlier opinion, held that the absolute pollution exclusion was not intended or designed to be read strictly to exclude coverage for all interactions with..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
GE claims Superfund process unconstitutional
Facing an order to clean up polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) discharged into the Hudson River over a 30-year period before the chemicals were banned in 1977, General Electric has filed suit in a Washington court challenging the 1980 Superfund..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Alaska Airlines
A brief filed in a San Francisco district court on behalf of 50 victims of the January 2000 Alaska Airlines flight 261 crash with 88 deaths, argues that the families should be able to seek punitive damages for in-air agony of the final minutes. It..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
EgyptAir agrees liability
EgyptAir has accepted liability for the 1999 crash of flight 990 off the coast of Massachusetts, thus allowing around 100 families to collect damages. The airline has reserved its position and may later seek to recoup from manufacturer Boeing. The..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Lockerbie: Pan Am 103
Few, if any, are happy with the outcome of the innovative trial. Dr Jim Swire and other members of victims’ families have called for a public inquiry to focus on why the bomb was placed, and why it was not prevented. They also want the inquiry..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Jessica
The Jessica
was not a major oil spill, despite the high-profile location of the Galapagos islands. Built in 1971, she was carrying diesel to service a local tour boat and was comparatively small at 2,000 dwt, below the size requiring certificate of..
Online Published Date:
01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Euro-ban on single-hull tankers threatened
EU transport ministers have issued a statement saying that unless the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) agrees to a worldwide ban on single-hull tankers – responsible for some of the worst oil pollution events – the EU will adopt..
Online Published Date:
01 March 2001
Appeared in issue:
128 - 01 March 2001
Classification amalgamations
..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Estonia report
A technical report into the sinking of the Estonia
in 1994 with the loss of 852 lives blames an explosion rather than design faults. The latest report also drew on earlier independent reports by laboratories in Germany and the US that examined..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Shell Tankers asbestos liability
The failure of Shell Tankers to overturn a judgment of negligent exposure to asbestos of two engineers, Miller Jeromson and Peter Dawson, could lead to a flood of claims against shipowners, even when the exposure was only occasional.
The two men,..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
US asbestos deterioration
An overview by Bryan Joseph, partner in the Actuarial & Insurance Management Solutions practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers, suggests the ultimate cost to the insurance industry will lie between US$55bn and US$60bn, roughly 10% to 15% above the..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Georgia-Pacific covered
Speaking at a conference organised by Goldman Sachs, in the wake of the Georgia-Pacific takeover of rival Fort James paper goods maker and with asbestos-injury claims running at 30,000 a year, chief executive Alston Correll expressed confidence,..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Metlife loses claim for coverage
The Connecticut supreme court has ruled against Metropolitan Life Insurance, favouring Travelers (involved via its purchase of Aetna Casualty) and 20 other insurance defendants and denying Metlife cover for numerous asbestos-related..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Bankrupt G-I Holdings sues lawyers
G-I Holdings, formerly GAF Corp which recently filed for bankruptcy protection, is to sue a group of prominent personal injury lawyers, alleging racketeering in that they schemed to flood US courts with asbestos cases regardless of the legitimacy of..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Apportionment to go to appeal
A surprise ruling by Mr Justice Curtis that ‘no court could find on the facts of this case’ where mesothelioma was contracted could throw asbestos litigation into disarray – or maybe not, as he has given leave for appeal.
Arthur..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Tobacco update
Johns Manville case declared a mistrial.
Significant not only for the US$4.6bn sought from the tobacco industry but as the first of a backlog for trial before Judge Weinstein in federal court, Brooklyn. The judge has been urging all sides to reach..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Killers’ parents offer US$1.6mn
..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Moves to protect structured settlements
Following 13 states that have already passed legislation to protect recipients of structured settlements from selling them below value, Michigan brought the total to 14 at the end of 2000, requiring approval by both court and funding insurance..
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01 March 2001
Appeared in issue:
128 - 01 March 2001
Med-mal in the US
A new study, Medical Malpractice Insurance: Ills Diagnosed, Cures Elusive
, by Geri Riley of Conning & Co shows medical malpractice insurance hurt by fallout from the managed care industry, sparking more lawsuits and higher jury awards.
The..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Defective product jury awards
A massive increase in median awards for defective products – up from US$500,300 in 1993 to US$1.8mn in 1999 (both figures exclusive of punitive damages) – suggests lawyers’ reluctance to take on low-value cases. This is because of..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
‘Sorry!’
Californians can now safely say they are sorry when involved in an accident, without this being used as admission of liability. This follows a law effective from 1 January. While lawyers in most other states still advise against such risky..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Too early for Hatfield decision
With the publication of the second interim report on the Hatfield rail crash, the Health & Safety Executive and British Transport Police said it was too early to decide whether to prosecute Railtrack. The state of the track, possibly concealed..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Stress study and management
Job satisfaction persists, despite increased pressure and stress levels. This is the finding of research by Prof Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick. However, satisfaction has declined during the 1990s to six on a scale of one to 10, and..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Stress of work
‘There are clear opportunities to adopt a prophylactic approach by reviewing its selection policy, the provision of support for staff and its managerial practices.’ So write the authors of a report, published in the British Journal of..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Suicide following racial abuse
..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Tribunal cases rise by 14%
A 14% increase over the previous year showed 118,400 cases referred to tribunals during 2000. The figures were compiled by Peninsula Business Services, an employment law specialist in Manchester, which sees increased worker rights awareness and..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Unison wins £35.6mn
With settlement of 4,461 personal injury cases on behalf of members, trade union Unison has won more than £35mn for claimants during 2000. The public service union has recently launched a website dedicated to health hazards and injuries at..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Redundancy win, after three years
Shipyard workers, made redundant when Cammell Laird (which took over its employer’s business, Tyne Dock Engineering, three years ago) closed the South Shields Yard in 1999, have won their claim for notice payment. 167 workers took their claim..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Good faith and the ‘blind eye’
At the time a claim was made by a shipowner, his duty of utmost good faith under the Marine Insurance Act 1906 required only that the claim was not made fraudulently. For him to be held to have had ‘blind eye’ knowledge of the..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Local authority promotion of road safety
While a local authority had considerable discretion in the exercise of its statutory duty to promote road safety, where it acted wholly unreasonably it could be held liable in negligence to a driver injured in a road accident.
Larner v Solihull..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Injuries to child passenger
Responsibility for injuries to a child passenger (not properly secured) following a road traffic accident, and defendant’s admission of negligence, are to be determined by application of the test laid down in section 2(1) of the Civil..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Tribunal may award simple interest
The Lands Tribunal was empowered to pay simple interest on a compensation award for damages arising from the discontinuance of an order made under the Town and Country Planning Act 1971, before the enactment of the Planning and Compensation Act..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Vexatious litigant
After numerous proceedings brought to employment tribunals, without success, application by the Attorney-General to the Employment Appeal Tribunal for a restriction of proceedings order was appropriate, even though no such proceedings had been..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Choice of disciplinary route
When considering disciplinary action it was for the employer to choose the procedure, in accordance with the terms of the contract of employment. Public law concepts of reasonableness did not apply.
Saeed v Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Duty to train employee
The duty of an employer, as set out in the Woodworking Machines Regulations, to train an employee in the use of machinery involved more than explanation. It also involves some appraisal as to whether the employee understood the instructions and..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Slipping at work (2)
In this case a worker slipped on a few drops of water – source unknown – on a tiled staircase in an office environment. The claimant failed in argument that periodic inspection should have been instituted, as there was no history of..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Slipping at work (1)
A worker gritting a large icy yard inadvertently stepped onto an ungritted area after two hours of work, slipped and sustained injury. Considered under the Manual Handing Operation Regulations and without defendant plea of ‘reasonable..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Sexual orientation
An employee questioned during vetting as to his sexual orientation and then dismissed argued that this amounted to unlawful sex discrimination in that the questioning had amounted to sexual harassment. Dismissed at first instance, his claim was..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Trigger of multiple sclerosis
It was possible, in an exceptional case, that multiple sclerosis could be caused by trauma when that trauma affected the brain or spinal cord. In the case at issue the employer had allowed a lamp standard to fall on the claimant’s car. A..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Maternal claim over misdiagnosis
Apparently negligent failure of a nurse to identify pregnancy in a woman who would have opted for abortion so as to continue in work gave no rise to a claim. It was held that a healthy child was an incalculable benefit and therefore it could not be..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Liability of regulatory body
The regulatory body controlling professional boxing was liable in negligence to a boxer suffering severe injury (see LRI
127, February 2001). A very detailed law report, clarifying general and special features, has now been published in The..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Suppliers’ duty of care
Where a supplier of petrol unlawfully sold it to a person under the age of 16, the supplier owed that young person a common law duty of care to prevent him having control over the substance. This is allowing a claim for injuries suffered when a..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Bottom-up structured settlements: the future for compensation claims?
Paul McNeil of Field Fisher Waterhouse gives a firsthand account of features and use of structured settlements.
With the fall in discount rates, the insurance industry has come under increasing pressure to examine new and more creative ways of..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Australian med-mal claims soar
The first comprehensive claims report from Australia’s largest medical indemnity insurer, United Medical Protection (UMP), shows a sharp increase in claims and compensation payments. Covering 80% of Australia’s 50,000 doctors as an..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Enhanced vaccine damage payments?
The current regulatory reform bill making its way through parliament is likely to increase and simplify payments to youngsters suffering vaccine damage. The new rules will reduce the qualifying threshold for compensation from 80% to 60% disability,..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
MMR standoff
Medical and parental views on the safety of the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine continue to polarise, along with stronger calls for an alternative choice of single vaccine – even supported by an editorial in New Scientist
of..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Burke and Hare
Media reports of organ retention at Alder Hey and other hospitals have taken on a redolence of body snatching. Unsurprisingly, in view of the monumental insensitivity displayed throughout, many parents are preparing to sue for negligence and trauma...
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
National Clinical Assessment Authority
From 1 April 2001 the National Clinical Assessment Authority (NCAA) will provide a central point of contact for concerns about doctors’ performance, making recommendations to NHS hospitals and health authorities.
Set up in response to..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
BSE, CJD and OPs
See Product liability
on page 3 (‘Significant loss of public confidence’
; Farmers face strict liability
).
Families of vCJD victims to be offered £25,000
‘no blame’ compensation. Initial anger on hold, as it is..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Starlink shunned
Aventis CropScience, developer of StarLink genetically-modified corn, faces high costs, having promised to find markets for StarLink and agreeing to compensate farmers, lift operators and food processors. So reports the New York Times
in the..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
More GM plantings
Arrangements for this year’s Farm-Scale Evaluations of genetically-modified crops have been announced, in greater numbers and with little concession to buffer zones.
Some locations will be announced, with six-figure grid references, late in..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Firestone rolls on
A further injunction filed in Indianapolis seeks the recall of 3mn additional Firestone/Bridgestone tyres.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Authority has updated the number of tyre-related fatalities of which they are aware to 174...
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Record number of car recalls
Some 1,377,300 cars were recalled last year, for attention to potentially dangerous defects, according to figures from the Vehicle Inspectorate. The 148 recalls were also the highest ever and involved almost all manufacturers, ranging from..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Mobile phone study
The largest-ever study into possible links between the use of mobile phones and the onset of certain forms of cancer – published in the February issue of the US Journal of the National Cancer Institute
– concludes that their use does..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Farmers face strict liability
Consideration of the implications for farmers and fishermen of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (Product Liability) Modification Order 2000 is given by Hilary Ross in the 25 January 2001 Law Society Gazette
. A full reading is strongly recommended...
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
‘Significant loss of public confidence’
A statement from agriculture minister Nick Brown in response to Lord Phillips’ report on BSE admits that ‘there has been a significant loss of public confidence in arrangements for handling food safety and standards… [and that] the..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Report detailed vulnerability of buildings
An Indian government-sponsored study produced the 1998 Report of the Expert Group on Natural Disaster Prevention, Preparedness and Mitigation Having Bearing on Housing and Related Infrastructure’
. This detailed the extent of building..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Clifford Chance faces claim
A US$200mn claim, which may be increased, targets leading law firm Clifford Chance alleging negligence, conflict of interest and improper conduct. The claim comes from Canadian industrialist Joseph Zappia, dating from his claim of US$1.7bn from the..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Depleted uranium admission
After the usual period of parliamentary statements of ‘no significant risk’, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted not all troops were trained, or warned, about risks from depleted uranium, especially in the detritus following the..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
Malaria claims against MoD
Fifteen of more than 100 soldiers and other military personnel who contracted malaria in Sierra Leone are taking legal action against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for failure to provide them with antimalarial medicine Mefloquine.
Malaria is..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001
‘Pride goeth before a fall’
An old adage, but perilous to ignore. Pride – hubris – is not satisfaction in a job well done, it is setting one’s own ambitions above the aspirations of others. But such arrogance carries the seeds of its own downfall. Past..
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01 March 2001
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128 - 01 March 2001