Pressure on Injury Victims

It has been said the best form of disinfectant is sunlight.

It is good news that the BBC Money Box programme has recently run a piece on insurers’ practice of third party capture.

This involves the insurer of the guilty party making speedy (unrequested) contact with the injured victim of the accident, and trying to settle their claim as soon as possible and ideally, without having independent legal advice.

The Association of British Insurers seek to justify this by arguing that it avoids the injured person having to incur legal costs and going through the courts, which is of course in the insurers interest, although not by any means necessarily in the injured persons interest.

There clearly must be a conflict of interest for the insurer in seeking to assist both parties. Just as a solicitor’s primary duty is to his or her client, the insurers owe their duty to their shareholders

It must be right that the victim of the accident should be independently advised notwithstanding whether any offer of settlement is fair. This is a simple matter for natural justice.

It is to be hoped that the Financial Services Authority will look more closely at this practice which is apparently increasing and is intending to report its findings later in the year.

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