By Matthew Pascall, Senior Underwriting Manager
(Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 20 seconds)
Temple’s most recent webinar saw Frances Coulson (Moon Beever), Edward Judge (Irwin Mitchell) and Simon Jacobs (Seddons) join us for a timely discussion on insolvency litigation.
Given the strength and experience of our guests, it isn’t surprising that the conversation was both lively and stimulating with our well-informed participants.
Click here to view the webinar video.
Frances, Ed and Simon all have had extensive experience using litigation insurance for insolvency litigation, most of it good to date and some less so. They all felt that this type of insurance cover was necessary and becoming a more common feature of insolvency litigation.
They noted the real and potential effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, such as the probable uncovering of a greater amount of fraud and a need for change in certain areas of the economy. This is in order to adapt to the new economic climate that could make 2021 a challenging year for some businesses. They agreed that ‘good news’ could be about businesses being saved in the coming years but felt an uptick likely in the volume of insolvency litigation for the longer term.
Our participating insolvency experts also agreed that litigation insurance cover should be entered into as early as possible. Having this cover in a settlement situation was like “having a suit of armour”, you wanted to “shout it from the rooftops” and that it can often have the effect of “taking the wind out from the sails of the other side”.
Other observations of note from Frances, Ed and Simon included:
- They all appreciated a flexible approach on premiums in settlement negotiations and viewed that there was a range of behaviour being exhibited by providers of litigation insurance – with a hardening of position in some areas.
- In their experience some insolvency practitioners have had ‘their fingers burnt’ in circumstances where their insolvency claim had lost, and no litigation insurance was in place.
Many thanks to Frances, Ed, Simon and Andy for taking their time to share their thoughts.
Temple’s presence in the insolvency market is growing, together with our experience of insolvency litigation. Do note the following
- Our premiums are fully deferred until conclusion and contingent upon success.
- Please propose cases to us as early – as soon as you are reasonably able to assess the merits.
- Temple can insure cases and fund disbursements regardless of the type of CFA/retainer.
We’re happy to insure a variety (and volume) of insolvency cases, and can give you an early indication of the litigation insurance premium for you to discuss with your clients. Whenever an insolvency case is insured with Temple, the client(s) is also eligible to apply for disbursement funding.
You may also want to read:
- https://www.temple-legal.co.uk/news/insolvency-update-move-fast-and-settle-things-ciga-litigation-insurance-and-temples-collaboration-with-r3/
- https://www.temple-legal.co.uk/solicitors/commercial-ate/case-types/what-is-insolvency-litigation/
If you have any questions about our litigation insurance and disbursement funding for insolvency litigation or are interested in attending future webinars hosted by Temple please call Matthew Pascall on 01483 514428 or email matthew.pascall@temple-legal.co.uk.
Matthew Pascall
Legal Director – Head of Commercial
01483 514428
Matthew Pascall
Matthew was called to the Bar in 1984 and joined Guildford Chambers two years later. Spending more than 30 years in practice there, he was listed as a Legal 500 Tier One barrister.
He joined the commercial team at Temple Legal Protection as Senior Underwriting Manager in 2017.
Matthew was appointed to Temple’s Board in December 2022 as Legal Director and Head of Commercial.
His knowledge of the commercial legal sector and litigation practice is invaluable to the business and our clients, providing specialist experience to lead the commercial litigation insurance team.
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