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Events
Liability Underwriters Group annual conference
4–6 September • Queen’s College, Cambridge • Unforeseen exposures faced by the liability insurance market continue to manifest themselves, many in a disastrous form. As these are..
Online Published Date:
01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Mediation developments
Lloyd’s and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) have recently announced they are, separately, to retain mediation providers. Lloyd’s and the International Underwriting Association are setting up a series of alternative dispute..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
FSA reconsiders mandatory PI
Arguments for and against compulsory professional indemnity (PI) cover, primarily in relation to independent financial advisers (IFAs), are aired in the Financial Services Authority (FSA) consultation paper on its new Integrated Prudential..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Independent developments
The fallout from the demise of Independent Insurance spreads apace. Tasty parts of the dismembered corpse have been snapped up by other insurers. Royal & SunAlliance (RSA) paid £3mn for Independent’s loss adjusting arm Property..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Crowe quits Italian motor
..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Japanese air pollution
A 12-year court battle for injury compensation for victims of polluted air has been settled in Japan for ¥1.52bn. Parties to the settlement are Chubb Electric Power and nine other major firms, paying compensation to people suffering diseases..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Tobacco update
Carter award stands
as US supreme court rejects Brown & Williamson appeal. A Florida jury awarded US$750,000 damages in a product liability suit, finding that cigarettes were defective and that the manufacturer had negligently failed to warn..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Prudential suit dismissed
A New Jersey federal judge has dismissed a 14-year asbestosrelated racketeering lawsuit by Prudential Insurance of America against United States Gypsum (USG) and six other former asbestos manufacturers. This is by ruling that the limitation period..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
What are we asking for?
What we are asking for are good, honest and socially just structured settlements that have been embraced and work well in the UK, Canada and the US. When people receive common law compensation for personal injury they should be able to choose to..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Awards and settlements
First major award after adjustment of Ogden tables.
A wheelchair-bound graduate was awarded £3.3mn in respect of cerebral palsy due to a midwife’s error leading to brain damage at birth.
Boddison v Didley Health Authority •..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Guide to Financial Services and Markets Act
..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
First law, and accountancy, LLPs
City-based Kemp & Co has become the first law firm to be registered with the Law Society as a limited liability partnership (LLP), changing its name to Kemp Little LLP. Specialising in technology issues, many of its clients are US corporations..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
CFAs for professional negligence cases
A report by the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies on the impact on civil litigation of legal aid reforms suggests professional negligence actions are those most suited to conditional fee arrangements (CFAs), ‘because they have a reasonably..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Financial ombudsman report
The annual review of the work of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) for the year ending 31 March 2001 includes reports and statistics for the eight complaints-handling schemes now covered by the FOS.
During the period there were 400,000..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
OSS problems as SCF contributions frozen
Legal services ombudsman Ann Abraham has stated she does not foresee the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (OSS) ‘achieving long-term quality breakthrough’.
In trying to meet targets set by the Lord Chancellor it seems the OSS is..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Criminals’ claims for injury
The Law Commission has put forward proposals that discretion should be applied to allow claims from criminals for injuries sustained from their victims.
At present such claims are precluded by the theory that a criminal may not benefit from his or..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Datamonitor on personal injury litigation
Datamonitor’s UK Personal Injury Litigation 2001
report warns of a growing surge in personal injury claims. Last year saw 744,000 personal injury and illness claims arising from an estimated 10.4mn accidents. A growth of 30% to 1mn claims is..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
…and queried
The Lord Chancellor is investigating allegations raised by law firm Russell Jones & Walker (RJW) that the basis of the currently accepted rate of investment return is erroneous.
While the Lord Chancellor has assumed an average yield on..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Ogden tables reset…
The discount rate for personal injury multipliers is to be reduced from 3%, set in 1998, to 2.5%. The discount rate is the amount deducted from personal injury awards to reflect the interest that can be earned from investing a lump sum for future..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Court of appeal rules for Claims Direct
Having already confirmed that after-the-event (ATE) premiums are recoverable under the provisions of the Access to Justice Act 2000, the court of appeal has now delivered a reserved judgment on most of the outstanding issues in Callery v Gray
and..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
California experiment fails
A low-cost insurance scheme targeting 2mn uninsured drivers and offering minimal liability coverage only has failed to attract drivers. During the four-year pilot programme there were only 26 takers in San Francisco.
Possible factors are the cost of..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Icy road liability in Canada
Marilyn MacMillan of Canada, who still suffers the effects of severe head injuries from a car crash in icy conditions, has been awarded C$6mn (one-third of which is interest as the case dated back to 1988).
The Toronto court of appeal ruled that the..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
South Korean restrictions lifted
The Korean Financial Supervisory Service is to lift restrictions on insurance premiums for private and business cars and motorcycles from 1 August this year.
This will allow a premium cut of up to 11% for first-time purchasers, leading to an average..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Japan revises motor liability
Amendments to Japan’s compulsory motor liability insurance system, to be implemented on 1 April 2002, will end the government’s reinsurance scheme, leaving this to the open market. A new body to protect the victims of car accidents in..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Malaysia protects NCB
As from 1 June this year a change in the rules of compulsory motor liability insurance in Malaysia allows motorists suffering damage to their vehicles through the fault of another to claim directly from their own insurer, without suffering..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Accidents and premiums rise in Iran
There are only 5mn cars on Iranian roads but last year’s death rate rose 10% to 17,000. Quoting traffic expert Mahmoud al-Kateb, the newspaper Entekhab
reported their estimated cost as US$2bn a year. State insurers recently raised motor..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Slovakia frees up motor insurance
Slovakia’s state-owned insurer Slovenska Poistovna technically loses its monopoly as of 1 August 2002 although provisions for signing insurance contracts with other companies take effect as of 1 January 2002.
At this date a Slovak Office of..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
82% of Italian whiplash claims fraudulent
..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Insurance to go on national file?
Pointing out that uninsured driving in Ireland cost I£95mn last year, the Irish Insurance Federation stepped up its call for an update of the National Vehicle File to show the existence (or not) of insurance.
At present, compensation for..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Riot exclusion?
Two pedestrians were injured when after mutual exchange of insults, a car was driven at them in what the police are treating as a racist attack in troubled Burnley.
It will be interesting to see whether the insurer – or the Motor..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Popup bonnet can save lives
A prototype system put together by Swedish transport safety research organisation Autoliv could provide an equivalent of passenger seatbelt safety to pedestrians. An impact-triggered gas device lifts the bonnet a few inches before contact between..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
HIH: NSW Law Society
Having received A$18mn in commission over the last three years, during which time solicitors in New South Wales were required to obtain compulsory professional indemnity insurance from HIH, the New South Wales Law Society faces problems.
A..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Partial settlement with Barings’ auditors
Partial settlement has been achieved by Barings’ liquidator, Ernst & Young, in the £1bn high court negligence action against former auditors. While both sets of auditors deny failure of duty, Coopers & Lybrand is negotiating the..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Creditors may seize pensions
The withdrawal of appeal to the House of Lords by discharged bankrupt John Dennison against the decision by the court of appeal that an insolvency practitioner could call on personal pensions and retirement annuity contracts – though not the..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
APB warning on audit ‘flattery’
The Auditing Practices Board (APB) is to warn auditors to improve financial reporting practices to prevent companies from booking artificially high profits.
In particular it warns against the import of certain US accounting methods. Andersen..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Windfall challenge
The high court is currently hearing a challenge from Needler Financial Services and Collegiate Insurance to the 1997 decision of the Personal Investments Authority (PIA) that demutualisation windfalls should not be deducted from compensation for..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Majority of endowment mortgages missold
Research carried out for the Financial Services Authority suggests the majority of the 11mn existing endowment mortgages were missold, with 60% of customers being told the product would generate enough money to pay off the mortgage in its entirety...
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Cruise ship pollution
Alaska is the first US state to legislate regulation of water and air pollution from cruise ships carrying 50 or more passengers. Other states are expected to follow suit. More than 750,000 passengers and crew are expected to traverse Alaska’s..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Water authority sues Exxon
The Plainview Water District, providing drinking water to 35,000 New York residents, seeks punitive damages of US$2bn and US$500mn compensation for a gasoline spill at a now-closed Mobil station. Plainview alleges Exxon was aware of a spill of..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Pollen tracking
Canadian air quality measurement company AirZone has developed a means of tracking tiny grains of pollen from genetically modified (GM) farm crops as they drift over wide areas to non-GM crops. A reengineering of an existing technology, this can..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Pesticide information
Genetically modified crop developer Aventis will argue in the high court that information provided to the Pesticides Safety Directorate should not be passed on to an environmental organisation.
Aventis claims the information, given to support the..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
RIMS on climate change
Despite the views of president George Bush, the Risk & Insurance Management Society (RIMS) in the US is working with the US Environmental Protection Agency to develop a framework for addressing risk management issues related to climate change...
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Secrecy on environmental performance
A report published in June 2001 by Salter Baxter and Environmental Context has found almost half of Britain’s largest companies ignored government requests to disclose information on their environmental and social performance. If the companies..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Stress guidance
The Health & Safety Executive has published comprehensive guidance on the prevention of work-related stress. It is estimated that half a million people in the UK suffer work-related stress at levels causing illness, with a loss of 6.5mn working..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Oldfashioned lack of care
Among all the new and imaginative heads of claim and means of amelioration of working conditions, oldfashioned greed remains. Leicester crown court has fined Fresha Bakeries, Harvestime and three of their executives more than £500,000 for the..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
CIPD on employee absence
The second report by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD), Employee absence: a survey of management policy and practice
, indicates that sickness absence costs the UK economy £12bn a year, taking account of occupational..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Too many SPADs
The Health & Safety Executive has issued new warnings to rail companies calling for action to address dangers including the overrunning of red lights.
Although the number of SPADs (signals passed at danger) fell by 20% last year to 475, 10..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Medical whistleblower
Consultant Alban Barros D’Sa, examiner for the Royal College of Surgeons, who was suspended from Walsgrave Hospital almost two years ago, had his reinstatement refused despite the recommendation of an independent panel.
The suspension took..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Rail lifesaver dismissed
The 55-year-old railway guard who saved lives after the Paddington rail crash has been dismissed, with payment of around £18,000. Colin Paton had not been able to resume his work since 1999, suffering panic attacks and other symptoms of trauma...
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Inquiry into pay gap
Following academic studies indicating that women earn 18% less than men, a government-sponsored inquiry will address gender-related work issues. It will also explore possible changes to accounting rules requiring companies to include details of pay..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
New tribunal rules
A number of measures designed to reduce ill-founded claims reaching employment tribunals are in force from 16 July of this year. Responding to calls from the business world, some measures seem to be directed at unions or other bodies bringing..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Tupolev 154 crash in Siberia
Fears about the condition of Russia’s aging airliners are explored by Robert Cottrell in the Financial Times
of 5 July 2001. From a low of 263 deaths in five crashes in 1994, last year the safety record was better than that of many western..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Egyptair reports progress
Egyptian authorities, rejecting suggestions of copilot suicide as causing the 1999 SU-GAP crash and 217 deaths, have sent their report to the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). This is believed to call for closer examination of Boeing..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Accidents at sea
In the introduction to his annual report, chief marine accident inspector John Lang blamed marine accidents largely on poor safety standards arising from ‘the lengths that some shippers will go to make a profit… They seek the cheapest..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Safety at sea on agenda?
The Belgian presidency of the EU, from 1 July, is expected to highlight issues of maritime safety and the need for environmentally friendly freight transport.
In particular, there will be pressure for speedy implementation of legislation stemming..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
More Erika payments
The International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund has increased its percentage of claims to be paid in respect of the 1999 spill off the coast of France from 60% to 80%. This follows clarification of the extent of many small claims, particularly..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Speed-checkers face suit
Acme Rent-A-Car faces a complaint filed against it by the Connecticut Consumer Protection Department. This is not for supplying dodgy cars but for using GPS tracking devices to check and penalise customers exceeding speed limits.
Rather than..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Wal-Mart failed injury reports
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission is seeking a maximum fine of US$4.5mn against Wal-Mart, Sam’s Warehouse and equipment maker Icon Health & Fitness for failure to report accidents and injuries to customers trying out exercise..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
No limit on future loss
..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Patients’ bill of rights
The lengthy progress of the bill giving almost 300mn patients rights and power to sue health maintenance organisations and insurers if treatment is denied has moved infinitesimally forward.
This is through an agreement to exempt employers from..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Class action legislation reintroduced
The Class Action Fairness Bill has been introduced into US Congress with the support of insurance associations. The aim is to correct a ‘serious flaw’ in federal jurisdiction statutes and allow multistate lawsuits to be moved from state..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
USG files for bankruptcy protection
The increasing costs of asbestos litigation have forced building materials manufacturer United States Gypsum (USG) to seek chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. USG’s major subsidiaries have also filed. These include US Gypsum, which has received..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Asbestos PR bailout
The Association of British Insurers has sent a confidential letter to 254 members, seeking a £5mn voluntary rescue package for the Chester Street shortfall, according to a report in the Financial Times
. This is to avert a ‘PR disaster..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Early retirement
The French government is considering extending early retirement provisions for shipyard workers exposed to asbestos. At present those exposed before 1975 can benefit but unions are pressing for this to be brought up to 1997, arguing that dates later..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Court to hear five asbestos appeals
Five asbestos cases are to be considered by the court of appeal in November, led by Fairchild v Glenhaven Funeral Services and Others
, which could well proceed on to the House of Lords.
In February Mr Justice Curtis ruled, in a case with two..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Scotland to consider single-trigger defence
In a written decision at the Scottish Court of Session, Lord Carloway has allowed three different cases to be amended to include the new ‘English’ (Fairchild) defence.
In the lead case Patrick Gilbride is suing six defenders, including..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
‘Stop the NHS injuring people’
The quote from the Bar Council – ‘Stop the NHS injuring people’ (see previous item) – could be seen as a summary of the report into the unnecessary deaths of up to 35 babies at Bristol Royal Infirmary between 1991 and..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Consideration of compensation reform
The Department of Health (DoH) has set up a working group, chaired by Prof Liam Donaldson, to consider alternatives to current compensation for clinical negligence.
Under consideration are a fixed-tariff scheme (based on the level of injury, as in..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Depleted uranium
A report from the Royal Society by Prof Brian Spratt and colleagues calls for rigorous monitoring of depleted uranium (DU) exposure through kidney and urine tests and weapons testing to obtain better data.
It has also been suggested that soldiers..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
More baby parts
The thigh bones of thousands of dead babies were removed without parental consent between 1959 and 1970 in a joint investigation between the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the Medical Research Council to study risks from nuclear radiation in..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Right to choose abortion confirmed
The French supreme court has approved the principle of compensation for a disabled teenager whose mother would have had an abortion had she been told of his disabilities.
His mother has already received compensation of £65,000 from the hospital..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Reinsurers’ approval required
Called into question by a previous ruling, the right of reinsurers – under a market slip containing a claims cooperation clause – to have a say in settlement and/or admission of liability is upheld. And the requirement of a..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Work-induced stress
Employers owe employees a duty to take reasonable care not to expose them to working conditions that were ‘reasonably foreseeably likely’ to subject them to stress likely to cause psychiatric injury. Such injury should be treated in the..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Promotion with conditions
Where an employee, also a trade union official, is promoted to a post carrying a higher salary but the pay rise is not paid until resignation from union position, this constitutes a breach of section 146(1) of the Trade Union and Labour Relations..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Negotiated leaving sum taxable
A lump sum paid as part of a negotiated termination of employment is not payment for breach of contract and therefore not subject to tax relief. It is a payment derived from employment.
Richardson (Inspector of Taxes) v Delaney • Chancery..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
13-week holiday rule unlawful
The UK’s rule that workers must complete 13 weeks of continuous employment with the same company to qualify for paid annual leave was ruled unlawful. This was on interpretation of article 7 of Council Directive 93/104/EC.
Regina v Secretary of..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Compensation computation
In arriving at a sum compensating for lost pension rights, in a case of unfair dismissal, a tribunal erred in taking account solely of the employer’s contributions where the pension involved lump sum rights as well as income. Noting that the..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Justification of unequal pay
Difference in pay, set at the time of appointment, for two employees of different sex doing the same job or work of equal value cannot be justified by factors that became known only after they had commenced their duties.
Brunnhofer v Bank der..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Discipline ends with retirement
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Duty to children
The duty of a local authority to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in need was a general, rather than a specific, duty. As such it was not amenable to judicial review. The case at issue hinged on the provision of suitable accommodation..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Solicitor’s duty to third party
Special circumstances can arise where – contrary to the general rule that a solicitor acting for his client owes no duty of care to third parties – such duty may arise.
In the case at issue the solicitor acting in a loan transaction was,..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Negligence in preparing will
A delay in finalising a will for an elderly man in hospital led to a claimant receiving a lower share of the estate than was intended. An appeal against a successful action for negligence was dismissed. It was held that in accepting instructions to..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Only one ‘action’?
The issue was an appeal against the striking-out of a negligence action against solicitors who issued, but failed to serve, a writ in children’s claim for the death of their mother in a road accident. It was held that section 2(3) of the Fatal..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Delegation of ministerial liability
Where the secretary of state for the Home Department had delegated the running of an immigration detention centre to a security company, any claims of malicious prosecution brought by an inmate lay with that company, the minister not carrying..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
‘Dual insurance’ block to ATE?
If upheld on expected appeal, a ruling in Chester county court could provide a path for the virtual end of after-the-event (ATE) insurance, despite the outcome of Callery v Gray
.
A passenger, injured in a car accident, took out ATE. Later it..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Damages quantification by English law
Determining a preliminary issue in a claim arising from a road accident in Greece, it was held that while the applicable law (under section 11 of the Private International Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995) was that of Greece, procedural law..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Conditional fees, ATE premiums recoverable
In a ruling based on two simple, low-value road accident claims, but with far wider implications, the court of appeal has in effect ruled against defendant insurers and in favour of lawyers and providers of after-the-event (ATE) cover.
Preaction..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
BSE, CJD and F&M
The ninth annual report of CJD Surveillance Unit
shows a continued higher incidence in the north of Britain compared with the south. Analysis by occupational data remains inconclusive. The death of the first elderly patient from vCJD highlights the..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Structured settlements
A more personal presentation than is usual for
LRI, this exposition of the Australian situation from law reform advocate Judie Stephens of Sydney deals compellingly with policies and their impact on individuals – like us!
I was 49 years of..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Bridgestone and Ford feel tyre pressure
Tyre manufacturer Bridgestone is to take an additional charge of ¥68bn (US$548mn) to cover further costs of Firestone tyre recalls. This is expected to put Bridgestone’s results into the red for the first time since its listing in 1961,..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Ointment may trigger peanut allergy
Research led by Gideon Lack of St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, has found a possible trigger for the rapidly rising number of children suffering peanut allergy, which can trigger sudden and violent/lethal reaction.
An ongoing study based on..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Law professor pulls chair
Denise DiFede is seeking US$5mn for ‘severe pain and mental anguish’ after taking part in a demonstration of a legal point during a lecture.
Prof Gary Munneke, knowing she had not done her preparatory reading and so would not know what..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Holocaust survivors sue French railway
A class action has been launched in a Brooklyn court against French railway SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer) by Holocaust survivors, accusing the company of profiting from the transport of many thousands of people to death and..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Surrogacy bid rejected
The court of appeal has refused a woman funding for a surrogate birth. The woman lost her womb and baby through obstetric mismanagement. She was awarded £80,000, mainly for pain and suffering, but was refused surrogacy costs.
She appealed on..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Prisoner’s dilemma?
Two recent rulings on prisoners’ rights could be laying the basis for claims well into the future.
In Regina (P) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Regina (Q) v Same
(law report in The Times
, 1 June 2001) the Queen’s Bench..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001
Mould sticks around
Mould in buildings is nothing new, but a US$32.1mn award by the state court in Austin, Texas has attracted the attention of insurers and potential claimants.
Melinda Ballard of Dripping Springs, Texas alleged that Farmers Insurance Group had failed..
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01 August 2001
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133 - 01 August 2001