News Category 2
Jackson Takes Stock - Flora Wood, Ashfords Solicitors
27/10/14. In a keynote speech on 30 September 2014, Lord Jackson reminded us of his vision for the future. Whilst the Rule Committee has introduced new fixed costs rules for fast track personal injury cases (amending CPR Part 45), effective from 1 April 2013, these fixed costs are lower than recommended by Jackson. Some have criticised the costs as being too low.
Lord Jackson's ambitions go well beyond the latest CPR amendments to fixed costs. His Final Report recommended that costs in all fast track cases (not just injury) be fixed. Those recommendations are yet to be introduced. Jackson has expressed regret about this, although he acknowledges that the government is supportive of this recommendations in principle.
Jackson also made a separate recommendation for fixing the recoverable costs of medical reports in fast track Personal Injury cases. This recommendation was introduced in CPR amendments implemented on 1 October 2014...
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Does Fatal Accident Legislation Treat Gay Men and Gay Women Differently? - Gordon Exall, Zenith Chambers
25/10/14. As currently drafted the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 could treat gay men and gay women differently. Here I look at the reason why and examine the possible solution. Section 3(3) of the act provides that, in assessing damages, the court disregards the prospects of re-marriage and marriage of a widow.
“(3) In an action under this Act where there fall to be assessed damages payable to a widow in respect of the death of her husband there shall not be taken account the re-marriage of the widow or her prospects of...
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Awarding Aggravated Damages in Sexual Abuse Claims - Helen Nugent, No 18 Chambers
22/10/14. With the ongoing process of Operation Yewtree and the decision of the Yorkshire Police last month to commission an independent investigation into its handling of the Rotherham child exploitation scandal, reports of historic sexual abuse have a continued and wide reaching presence in the national headlines.
From a civil liability perspective, the issue of compensation for the victims of sexual abuse is a difficult and very sensitive one. No sum of money can put right the wrong; and reducing the injury element of the claim to a figure can seem an incredibly cold and artificial task.
The current guidelines for psychological harm arising from sexual (or physical) abuse are provided at Chapter 4A of the Judicial College Guidelines (12th Edition); where specific reference is made to the aggravating features of false imprisonment and breach of trust. In determining the relevant bracket of damages, other aggravating factors can include cases where the damaging effect has been longstanding; where the injury has gone untreated or even been denied for a sustained period of time. The provisions also set out...
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Vnuk: End of the Road? - Nicholas Bevan, Solicitor, Mediator, Consultant and Trainer
20/10/14. On 4th September the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered what is arguably its most important ruling to date on the scope of compulsory third party motor insurance (TPMI). The decision in Damijan Vnuk v Zavarovalnica Triglav d.d., [2014] CJEU Case C-162/13 is a ‘game-changer’, in the sense that it is likely to precipitate significant legislative reform across the European Union, including the UK. It is also something of a ‘name-changer’, at least for those of us who specialise in ‘RTA work’: because that term has become something of a misnomer. The Vnuk ruling confirms the scope of TPMI regime is wider than is signified by terms like ‘road accident’.
False assumptions
From a claimant practitioner’s perspective, one reassuring feature of motor loss and injury work is the knowledge that there is usually a motor insurer somewhere in the background and, ultimately, that it will satisfy any award or settlement; failing that, the Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) will usually step in. Consequently, in the vast majority of motor loss and injury claims, our main efforts are usually directed to establishing liability and proving the quantum of our client’s loss and injury. To this extent at least, the legal aspects of TPMI is often perceived to be something of a placid backwater, one that has been left relatively undisturbed by the turbulence inflicted by that tide of European law that Lord Denning so vividly portrayed in Bulmer (HP) Ltd v J Bollinger SA [1974] Ch 401.
It is well established that European law does not concern itself with civil or criminal liability arising out of the use of motor vehicles, here our indigenous law reigns more or less supreme1 as does the contractual autonomy of insurers and their policyholders to define the terms of cover under a TPMI. It is also true that when it comes to TPMI the contractual and statutory liability of motor insurers has been regulated by a succession of Road Traffic Acts over the past 84 years and even that relative latecomer, the MIB, has been with us for 68 years. This statutory and extra-statutory provision has attracted its own coterie of case authorities, much of it well settled and seemingly unaffected by European law principles.
Unfortunately appearances can be very deceptive, particularly in the context of TPMI...
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PI Practitioner, October 2014
16/10/14. Each issue a particular topic is highlighted, citing some of the useful cases and other materials in that area. You can also receive these for free by registering for our PI Brief Update newsletter. Just select "Free Newsletter" from the menu at the top of this page and fill in your email address.
Ogden Tables A to D: The Use of Adjusted Reduction Factors
The High Court's recent decision in Billett v MOD [2014] EWHC 3060 (QB) provides practitioners with salutary guidance on the adjustment of reductions factors (RF) from Ogden Tables A to D when assessing an award of damages for future loss of...
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More Articles...
- Part 36 and PI Claims: Truth and Myths - John-Paul Swoboda, 12 King’s Bench Walk
- Live in Carers: Always Explore the Alternatives - Bill Braithwaite QC, Head of Exchange Chambers
- Adjusting the Ogden Reduction Factors to Reflect a Spectrum of Disability - Jack Harding, 1 Chancery Lane
- Limitation: Did Curiosity Kill the Cat? - Luke Andrew Menary, Barrister, Liverpool Civil Law
![Appeal judge rules that credit hire company has no costs liability following a finding of fundamental dishonesty in personal injury case: RSA v. Fastrack Solutions Limited [2023] 4 WLUK 92 - David Bowden, Erimus Chambers](/content/images/resized/images/stories/carkeys_72_72.jpg)
