After-The-Event insurance for Secondary Victim Claims
Secondary Victim Claims
Temple’s ATE insurance protects your client from the risk of paying their own disbursements and adverse costs if a claim fails, including failure to beat a Part 36 offer. This is provided the solicitor has advised rejection of it.
ATE insurance for Secondary Victim Claims
Let Temple take the stress out of pursuing these cases with a delegated authority scheme. Our ATE product can cover the cost of expensive psychiatric medical evidence in the result of unsuccessful outcome.
We can provide ATE insurance in situations such as those arising in a clinical negligence setting; or where the client has witnessed some other traumatic event, such as the aftermath of a disaster (Piper Alpha, Grenfell Tower), or even following a road traffic accident.
What do we mean by a Secondary Victim Claim?
Such a person is entitled to make a claim as a secondary victim if they can prove they have suffered a psychiatric injury from witnessing a traumatic incident that occurred to a loved one.
Being more specific, there must be a close relationship of love and affection between the primary victim and the secondary victim, who must be in close proximity in time and space to the relevant traumatic event, or its immediate aftermath.
The tests for a secondary victim claim are set out in the Alcock Criteria, which were established in connection with the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster.
A Developing area of the Law
The Alcock Criteria were established before common use of mobile phone and video screen technology. Thus the higher courts have not yet been required to set out whether secondary victim status applies to a person speaking on a mobile phone/video screen to a primary victim.
Applying this to the Grenfell Tower Disaster; will a secondary victim include somebody outside the building, or even miles away, who is in voice and/or video contact as their loved one fights to survive?
The Advantages of Utilising Temple Legal Protection
The experience of these claim types gained by our underwriters has resulted in Temple offering market-leading cover and a first-class service for you and your clients. Temple’s delegated authority ATE insurance scheme allows you to proceed to get the best results for your clients.
With full delegation throughout the life of the case, along with one of the highest limits of indemnity available, solicitors are able to pursue their client’s cases with complete peace of mind.
In addition, there are no reporting requirements to incur disbursements, make/reject part 36 offers or even to issue court proceedings. Other advantages include;
- A user-friendly online system (TOPS) for incepting and updating policies
- Access to Temple Funding to apply for disbursement funding on any insured case
- A quick turnaround time for all referrals, and the important decisions you need
- Deferred payment of premiums until the conclusion of the case
- A dedicated premium challenge team to assist in the recovery of the premium
Proving success
With the assistance of our ATE insurance and disbursement funding products, many clients have been able to pursue their cases all the way to trial, which may not have been possible to do with the large amount of cost involved.
In relation to a novel, or very complex case which is going to trial, we may need the support of a favourable Opinion from a suitable barrister of your choice.
Your questions answered
Our product provides a standard indemnity limit starting at £100,000 which is sufficient for the majority of cases. If additional cover is required, this can be topped up.
We insure these as personal injury cases, whether or not the primary victim was in a clinical setting. These are about psychiatric injury to the secondary victim.
As soon as you are able to assess the prospects of success. This is normally following a full review of the medical records, however, due to the complex nature of psychiatric injuries it may be necessary to obtain an expert’s opinion on causation if there are any uncertainties.
Yes, disbursements incurred following the date of the CFA will be covered under the policy.
We encourage the use of ADR and the cost of this will be covered under the policy.
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The ‘Paul’ Case: Clinical Negligence Secondary Victim Case heads for Supreme Court
Contact our experts
We welcome approaches from law firms specialising in secondary victim cases with whom we currently do not work. If you would like more information on our Clinical Negligence ATE product and disbursement funding or you have any other legal expenses insurance queries, please email peter.morgan@temple-legal.co.uk or call me on 01483 514 800. We look forward to hearing from you.
