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The payment of referral fees in personal injury cases will be banned in a bid to tackle rising insurance costs, the Government said today.

Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly said the no-win, no-fee system was “pushing us into a compensation culture in which middle men make a tidy profit which the rest of us end up paying for through higher insurance premiums and higher prices”.

The announcement came as the consumer watchdog said it was putting motor insurance under the spotlight after drivers faced average premium increases of up to 40% in a year.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has issued a call for evidence as it looks to establish if any competition or consumer issues need to be addressed to improve the motor insurance market.

Referral fees are incurred when a no-win, no-fee claim is passed between claims management firms, insurance companies, and lawyers.

Hundreds of pounds can sometimes be paid out as lawyers can claim the cost of referral fees back from the defendant or their insurance company if they are successful.

Mr Djanogly said: “Honest motorists are seeing their premiums hiked up as insurance companies cover the increasing costs of more and more compensation claims.

“Many of the claims are spurious and only happen because the current system allows too many people to profit from minor accidents and incidents.

“Referral fees are one symptom of the compensation culture problem and too much money sloshing through the system.

“People are being encouraged to sue, at no risk to themselves, leaving schools, business and individuals living in fear of being dragged to the courts for simply going about daily life.”

He went on: “We will ban referral fees and we will go further.

“We have proposals before Parliament to end the bizarre situation in which people have no stake in the legal costs their cases bring. Read more…

While more and more jurisdictions have rejected policyholder “all sums” claims in long-tail suits, there is still a striking lack of uniformity in the approach that these courts are taking to individual allocation issues.  In particular, there is a major division as to whether allocation applies to the entire period of injury or just those years for which insurance is “available.”    This division reflects the thinking of some courts, led by the New Jersey Supreme Court’s original Owens-Illinois opinion, that allocation is not necessarily a function of policy wordings but, rather, a public policy tool that should be applied to encourage policyholders to transfer risk by purchasing insurance and to punish them for failing to do so.

Five years ago, the Minnesota Supreme Court adopted the “unavailability” exception to pro rata allocatio in a construction defect case.  In Wooddale Builders, Inc. v. Mar

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Ohio Lieutenant Governor and Department of Insurance Director

Making decisions about health care coverage and your insurance needs are some of the toughest and often most complicated choices Ohioans face.  Those decisions are especially important for Medicare beneficiaries, who must consider many options and what those options mean to household budgets.  With Medicare’s Annual Open Enrollment Period already underway and coming to an end in just a few weeks, it is time to review and evaluate what best meets your needs. 

Open enrollment started this year on October 15, much earlier than in past years, and will end on December 7. Fortun

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Home insurer AXA has warned homeowners of the potential for significant damage during Halloween.

Almost 10% of UK households have been damaged at one time or another by trick or treaters, and whilst most damage is minor some can be serious.

Claims can increase by as much as 200% on Halloween compared to a typical day, with the average Halloween claim for malicious damage costing more than £1300.

Vandalism and damage committed often includes graffiti, broken windows and damaged paintwork.

Three-quarters of Britons will spend money on Halloween this year, with four out of ten not bothering to secure their homes properly and one in 20 inviting trick or treaters to trick them.

Christine Matthews, head of household claims at AXA, explained that whilst most trick or treaters are harmless some were intent upon causing trouble.

Matthews urged homeowners to secure their houses properly and parents to ensure that their children were not causing damage.

Last week Aviva warned that vandalism, theft and burglary would surge in the week following the clocks changing, with Bonfire night the worst night of the year for burglaries.