Couple who faked holiday sickness are jailed – The Guardian

Posted October 16th, 2017 in compensation, fraud, holidays, insurance, news, private prosecutions by sally

‘The government has stepped up attempts to eliminate fake holiday sickness scams, as a middle-aged British couple who had boasted on social media about having “sun, laughter and fun” on their holidays were jailed after making false insurance claims.’

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The Guardian, 13th October 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Eight sentenced over bus ‘crash for cash’ fraud – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 13th, 2017 in fraud, insurance, news, personal injuries, road traffic, sentencing by tracey

‘The biggest number of claimants ever tried together in an insurance fraud case have been handed sentences ranging from community service to custody.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 13th October 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Government calls for holiday sickness fraud evidence as it treats ABTA figures with caution – Legal Futures

Posted October 13th, 2017 in costs, fraud, holidays, insurance, news, personal injuries by tracey

‘The Ministry of Justice has today issued a call for evidence that it said would give ministers “a greater insight into the reported rise” in fraudulent holiday sickness claims, but displayed caution in the use of the oft-cited figure of a 500% increase in cases.’

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Legal Futures, 13th October 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Ministry of Justice “set to repeat mistakes of LASPO”, warns MASS chairman – Litigation Futures

Posted October 12th, 2017 in consultations, insurance, Ministry of Justice, news, personal injuries by sally

‘ASPO has not brought down insurance premiums, stopped referral fees or seen accident victims benefit from the promised 10% uplift in damages, and the Ministry of Justice is set to repeat its mistakes in the Civil Liability Bill, the chairman of the Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS) claimed yesterday.’

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Litigation Futures, 12th October 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Whalley v Advantage Insurance [2017]: Costs Consequences Following the Late Acceptance of Part 36 Offers in Fixed Costs Cases – Zenith PI Blog

Posted October 12th, 2017 in civil procedure rules, costs, delay, insurance, news, part 36 offers, personal injuries by sally

‘The Claimant brought a claim for personal injury arising out a road traffic accident which took place on 11th July 2014. The Claimant went on to make a Part 36 offer to accept an 85/15 split on liability dated 7th December 2015. The Defendant’s time for accepting the offer expired on 30th December 2015. The Defendant did not in fact accept the Claimant’s Part 36 offer until 29th January 2016. The delay in accepting the offer was therefore just under one month post expiry. Quantum was agreed in the sum of £10,000 which was paid. The issue was whether the Claimant’s costs were limited to fixed costs for the entire action or whether the Claimant was entitled to either assessed costs or indemnity costs for the period 30th December 2015 to 29th January 2016.’

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Zenith PI Blog, 11th October 2017

Source: zenithpi.wordpress.com

Judge criticises ‘deeply disturbing’ practices at defunct Asons – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted October 4th, 2017 in costs, insurance, law firms, news, personal injuries by sally

‘The now-defunct Asons Solicitors has been ordered to meet the costs of insurance company LV=, after a court found that the law firm made ‘gross’ and ‘deeply disturbing’ failures in a personal injury case it was handling.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 3rd October 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

MPs given early chance to scrutinise discount rate reform legislation – Litigation Futures

‘The justice select committee has accepted an invitation by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to undertake pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft legislation to reform the discount rate.’

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Litigation Futures, 18th September 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Insurers have ‘duty to speak’ in claims management, rules Court of Appeal – OUT-LAW.com

Posted September 14th, 2017 in appeals, claims management, insurance, news by tracey

‘Insurers have a positive obligation to make their position plain with insureds in the course of managing claims, the Court of Appeal has ruled. This “duty to speak” arises from good faith obligations in normal commercial contracts and not because of the more onerous utmost good faith obligations in insurance contracts. Those additional obligations, however, may “enlarge the circumstances in which a duty to speak arises”.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 13th September 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

Ian Paterson: Spire Healthcare to pay out £27.2m to victims of rogue breast surgeon – Daily Telegraph

Posted September 14th, 2017 in compensation, health, insurance, medical treatment, news, victims by tracey

‘Hundreds of NHS patients who suffered at the hands of rogue cancer surgeon Ian Paterson will have been paid more in compensation for their trauma than his private patients, it has emerged. Around 750 private patients operated on by the disgraced surgeon will receive a total of £37.2 million for the physical and psychological pain they suffered undergoing unnecessary treatment, it was announced yesterday.’

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Daily Telegraph, 13th September 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

A good day for defendants – lawyers react to discount rate reform and NAO report – Litigation Futures

Posted September 8th, 2017 in compensation, costs, insurance, negligence, news, personal injuries by tracey

‘Yesterday’s announcement of how the Ministry of Justice intends to reform the discount rate and publication of the National Audit Office’s (NAO) report on clinical negligence claims drew predictably opposing responses from claimant and defendant groups.’

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Litigation Futures, 8th September 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Licence stripped from holiday sickness firm – Ministry of Justice

Posted August 29th, 2017 in claims management, holidays, insurance, law firms, licensing, press releases by tracey

‘A firm responsible for pressuring people into making holiday-sickness claims has had it’s licence stripped by the Claims Management Regulator.’

Full press release

Ministry of Justice, 25th August 2017

Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice

Costs judge rejects £10k ATE challenge based on ‘hindsight’ – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted August 25th, 2017 in costs, evidence, expert witnesses, insurance, judges, negligence, news by sally

‘A costs judge has rejected a defendant’s attempt to deprive a clinical negligence claimant of their £10,000 insurance premium.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 24th August 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Richard Paige discusses Holiday Sickness Scams – Park Square Barristers

Posted August 22nd, 2017 in compensation, fraud, holidays, insurance, news by sally

‘In the last couple of years there has been an explosion in the number of holiday sickness claims in the UK. It has reached epidemic proportions so rapidly that all the national newspapers have run stories about hotel owners, mostly in Mediterranean resorts, threatening to ban British holidaymakers. The stories have probably been exaggerated to sell papers and there is likely to be a degree of sabre-rattling from the hotel owners, but there is no doubt that it has become a significant problem for the British holiday industry, so much so that ABTA launched its “Stop Sickness Scams” campaign in June 2017.’

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Park Square Barristers, 7th August 2017

Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk

Financial ombudsman gearing up for more complaints ahead of PPI deadline – OUT-LAW.com

Posted August 21st, 2017 in complaints, financial regulation, insurance, news, ombudsmen, time limits by sally

‘The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is anticipating a “significant increase in demand” for its services in the run-up to the August 2019 deadline for complaints about potentially mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI)’

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OUT-LAW.com, 17th August 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

Pre-Action Correspondence: What to do if you get a Stroppy Letter ……. or worse – NIPC Law

‘On Wednesday I stressed the importance of pre-action correspondence and how the drafting of a letter before claim can make all the difference between getting what you want quickly and cheaply through focused negotiation and precipitating an expensive and possibly protracted law suit in Pre-Action Correspondence – Not Just a Box to be ticked or a Hoop to be jumped through 2 Aug 2017. Today, I shall tell you what to do if you receive a letter accusing you of infringing a patent or some other intellectual property right.’

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NIPC Law, 4th August 2017

Source: nipclaw.blogspot.co.uk

News focus: Wish you weren’t here – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted July 17th, 2017 in costs, fees, fraud, holidays, insurance, news, personal injuries by tracey

‘Personal injury (PI) lawyers may have experienced a powerful sense of deja vu last week when the government announced a review of fees in holiday sickness claims. The same apocalyptic warnings of rampant fraud; the same incessant lobbying from a trade body. And ultimately the same solution – fixed costs – provided by ministers who would rather the whole thing just went away.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 17th July 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Court of Appeal QOCS decision provides claimant insurers comfort, says expert – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 11th, 2017 in appeals, civil procedure rules, costs, insurance, news by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has ruled that qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) should apply where an injured party has the right to pursue compensation against an organisation such as an insurance company or tour operator, rather than the wrongdoer.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 11th July 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

Major boost for claimants with Court of Appeal QOCS ruling – Litigation Futures

‘Qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) does apply for the benefit of a paralysed lorry driver who had his claim struck out against the Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB), the Court of Appeal has ruled, overturning the High Court.’

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Litigation Futures, 10th July 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Claimant entitled to shifted costs against compensatory body – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted July 7th, 2017 in compensation, costs, insurance, news, personal injuries, road traffic by tracey

‘A claimant severely injured in a crash with an unknown motorist is entitled to costs protection against a compensatory body, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 7th July 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Rule committee warns lawyers they risk “a solution being imposed” on credit hire cases – Litigation Futures

Posted July 6th, 2017 in civil procedure rules, consultations, consumer credit, insurance, news by sally

‘The Civil Procedure Rule Committee (CPRC) has warned lawyers involved in the “highly contentious area” of credit hire litigation that if they fail to agree a new model order for directions, they risk “a solution being imposed”.’

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Litigation Futures, 6th July 2017

Source: www.litigationfutures.com