This year has been challenging for the legal industry: pre-LASPO cases are in decline and the new legislation is now being applied with some cases finding their way to the appeal court; abolition of tribunal fees has led to increased risk exposure for employers without appropriate BTE cover and legal services; and there have been significant rulings from the upper courts relating to ATE insurance. A period of transition naturally garners grey areas and we are now seeing examples of this, hopefully greater clarity will develop into the New Year.
The year has brought a strong focus on employment law, including the UK Gig economy, and the Supreme Court decision to scrap employment tribunal fees. Since the introduction of fees, employment claims have fallen by an estimated 70%, employers must appreciate the increase in risk exposure caused by the Supreme Court ruling. Our Employer protection scheme is designed to transfer this risk away from employers and increase predictable revenue streams for law firms.
In March, Temple Legal Protection became the first provider in the market to offer a claims dispute service as part of its loss adjuster fee insurance cover called Loss Adjust Advantage. Our commitment to continual innovation, product development and providing market leading services for our clients remains a priority.
May saw us privileged and delighted to sponsor the Bristol Law Society’s Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence conference which was a rousing success, and added to the list of key industry organisations and events in which we take an active role in including AvMA, APIL and PNLA.
The summer brought with it some much welcomed warm and dry days and also a refreshing ray of sunlight from Temple Legal Protection for businesses. Click here to read our tips on before the event commercial claims preparation. It may be unusual for an insurer to promote help when making claims however our reputation has been built on offering the best service, products, advice and support to the marketplace.
There have been a number of significant cases for Temple this year and some that affect the industry as a whole:
- Main & Ors v Giambrone & Law illustrated the essential role of ATE in commercial litigation, a group action which would not have been viable without insurance backing.
- BNM v MGN set a precedent that for pre-LASPO cases with recoverable additional liabilities including ATE, proportionality should be assessed under the pre-LASPO guidelines.
- Miller v Associated Newspapers and Frost and Ors v MGN saw a landmark ruling from the Supreme Court that ATE and success fees do not breach ECHR Article 10 rights.
- Peterborough NHS v McMenemy – The appeal court dismissed an appeal by the health care trust and with this judgment secured the rights of claimants to protect themselves from the outset by allowing them to uptake ATE insurance as soon as a CFA is agreed with the law firm representing them. It reinforced that Callary v Gray (a Temple Legal Protection pre-LASPO test case heard in the House of Lords) is still strong and reliable law.
Finally, in November this year we successfully launched the upgraded Temple Online Policy System (TOPS) which retains all the existing strengths and features combined with a brand new interface. We have received continual positive feedback since our introduction of the original TOPS portal and the upgraded system ensures we remain a market leading service provider.
We have more exciting developments for 2018 which we look forward to sharing with you in the coming weeks.
David Pipkin
Director, Underwriting division
01483 514423
david.pipkin@temple-legal.co.uk
David Pipkin
Non-Executive Director
01483 514423
David Pipkin
David was Director of Temple’s Underwriting Division for 14 years during which time he supported Temple’s coverholders with his exceptional knowledge, expert guidance and friendly countenance.
He is now a Non-Executive member of the board supporting the strategic direction of the company and attending key events and meetings with our customers.
David has spent over 40 years as a Legal Executive specialising in personal injury litigation. Initially, he was a claimant litigator pursuing leading industrial accident and disease cases.
As an Associate at Davies Arnold Cooper for over a decade he managed a team of lawyers and acted for defendants in personal injury and general insurance litigation. In this role, he became involved in the early development of the ATE market, assisting the ABI in their involvement in the Court of Appeal test cases such as Callery v Gray.
As the London representative for FOIL he was involved in the liability insurers’ approach to ATE and worked with the government and judiciary in several key consultations. He was a member of the CILEX National Council for over 15 years and was CILEX President in 1995/6.
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