Insurance giant Axa has slashed its claims legal panel in half after investment in its own claims-handling systems radically reduced the number of litigated claims on its books.

Badhams in Croydon, James Chapman & Co in Manchester, Berrymans Lace Mawer in Stockton and Manchester, and Morgan Cole in Cardiff and Croydon will all be dropped from the insurer's panel in October, although they will continue to work on existing cases.


The six offices to be retained for new work are Beachcroft Wansbroughs in Birmingham, Cartwrights in Bristol, Keoghs in Bolton and Coventry, Capital Law in Cardiff and Morgan Cole's Reading office.


Matthew Scott, head of liability claims and professional services at Axa, said: 'The panel cut is a direct result of the reduction in litigated claims, which have halved in the last two years, even though there has been no drop in the number of claims overall. We are achieving more with our own cost base after investing in staff training in technology and negotiation skills.'


He added that none of the firms dropped from the panel had fallen below service standards.


A spokeswoman for James Chapman & Co stressed that it has still been retained on Axa's catastrophic claims panel. There was no comment from any other dropped firm.