News in detail
<< show all articles
New Rules for Personal Injury Claims Begin on 30th April
Drivers who injure another party in a blameworthy accident will need to respond quickly to avoid losing their insurance indemnity, under new personal injury claim rules commencing on April 30th 2010.
Under the new rules, a defendant will have only 15 working days to admit or deny liability, and following receipt of medical evidence they will have only 20 days to make an offer of settlement.
If settlement cannot be agreed the Judge will decide on paper how much the injured person is entitled to thus removing the need for a lengthy court hearing.
The key issue for defendants is that as a decision on liability needs to be made within 15 days, they must report any accident to their insurers as soon as possible or their insurers may refuse to indemnify them. Businesses need to be aware of this if that individual was driving whilst at work.
Historically, the personal injury claims process has been known to drag on for two to three years, however these new Government rules will speed up the process, reduce legal costs and cut down on protracted correspondence.
John Phenix, Operations Manager at Sandicliffe Motor Contracts commented, “This is one of those rule changes that very few fleet operators are aware of as it’s had very little publicity. However, it means that if one of your drivers is involved in a blameworthy accident, which results in another party being injured, they will have to react far quicker than before to notify your company’s insurers.”
From April 30th it is only applicable to road accidents worth up to £10,000, because claims involving significant injury will still need more detailed medical and expert reports.
However, this change to the claims process brings significant advantages to injured people, businesses and insurers.
From the injured person's perspective their claims should be dealt with far more quickly and with less need to attend court.
The advantage to businesses and insurers is that the claims will be dealt with far quicker removing the uncertainty that there could be a large payout looming in years to come that they have to make provision for.
For advice regarding accident management or any aspect of risk management, please call Phil Elms, National Sales Manager on 01159 466 466 or email phil.elms@motorcontracts.co.uk
<< show all articles
New Rules for Personal Injury Claims Begin on 30th April
Drivers who injure another party in a blameworthy accident will need to respond quickly to avoid losing their insurance indemnity, under new personal injury claim rules commencing on April 30th 2010.
Under the new rules, a defendant will have only 15 working days to admit or deny liability, and following receipt of medical evidence they will have only 20 days to make an offer of settlement.
If settlement cannot be agreed the Judge will decide on paper how much the injured person is entitled to thus removing the need for a lengthy court hearing.
The key issue for defendants is that as a decision on liability needs to be made within 15 days, they must report any accident to their insurers as soon as possible or their insurers may refuse to indemnify them. Businesses need to be aware of this if that individual was driving whilst at work.
Historically, the personal injury claims process has been known to drag on for two to three years, however these new Government rules will speed up the process, reduce legal costs and cut down on protracted correspondence.
John Phenix, Operations Manager at Sandicliffe Motor Contracts commented, “This is one of those rule changes that very few fleet operators are aware of as it’s had very little publicity. However, it means that if one of your drivers is involved in a blameworthy accident, which results in another party being injured, they will have to react far quicker than before to notify your company’s insurers.”
From April 30th it is only applicable to road accidents worth up to £10,000, because claims involving significant injury will still need more detailed medical and expert reports.
However, this change to the claims process brings significant advantages to injured people, businesses and insurers.
From the injured person's perspective their claims should be dealt with far more quickly and with less need to attend court.
The advantage to businesses and insurers is that the claims will be dealt with far quicker removing the uncertainty that there could be a large payout looming in years to come that they have to make provision for.
For advice regarding accident management or any aspect of risk management, please call Phil Elms, National Sales Manager on 01159 466 466 or email phil.elms@motorcontracts.co.uk