Law firm Clyde & Co has devised a new process which capitalises on the previously little-used Section 57 of the Criminal Justice Act to ensure exaggerated personal injury claims are dismissed before coming to trial.
The firm has successfully used the process to have 18 cases dismissed or discontinued in 2017/18, generating savings of £2.2m, excluding recoveries from dishonest claimants which totalled a further £80,000. The time taken to manage these litigated large loss cases was reduced to 12 months.
Commenting on the success of the project, lead partner Damian Rourke said: “Exaggerated casualty claims threaten the efficient running of a sustainable insurance market. Our goal is to help insurers force claims to be pleaded accurately and thereby reduce leakage, which drives up costs for insurers, and ultimately insureds.”
Under Section 57 of the Criminal Justice Act, where dishonest exaggeration is proved, the claimant can lose not only the exaggerated elements of the claim but also the genuine elements and any entitlement to costs. The claimant is also required to pay the defendant’s costs. The statute was specifically enacted to deal with claimants that exaggerate injuries and ensure that claims are brought accurately."
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