30 Sep ABI Chief’s Business Insurance Reform Concerns

ABI Chief’s Business Insurance Reform Concerns

Business insurance industry figures have suggested that the Ministry of Justice should re-evaluate their plans to reform the employers’ liability and public liability small claim limit from £1,000 to £2,000.

James Dalton, head of general insurance at the Association of British Insurers, has joined those critics who claim that the reforms are problematic because they have gone “largely unnoticed” and as such should be shelved.

Writing online last month, Dalton asserted that a “significant’ amount of work remains to deliver the changes envisaged in the Civil Liability Act, and ministers now must refocus solely on RTA claims.”

He further asked whether there had been sufficient examination of the important issues for the government to proceed with reforming public liability and employers’ liability claims.

“I think that not continuing to pursue the proposed increase in the Small Claims Tribunal for employers’ liability and public liability claims, should ensure that all stakeholders are able to focus on the successful delivery of the changes for RTA claims,” he said.

Many of Dalton’s concerns are shared by figures within the business insurance industry who believe that without clear guidance regarding the valuation of more minor injuries the small claims portal risked being “clogged up in dispute before it even begins”.

There further remain many uncertainties over whether there would be an adequate system of Alternative Dispute Resolution for those claimants dissatisfied with a settlement offer.

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