Report comment

Anonymous @ 02/04/2014 10.23pm. It is all well and good sayingf that you can claim the court fees from the Defendant but wasn't one of the reasons that the costs that solicitors receive in PI claims were cut was because claims were costing the insurance industry too much money? So, we now have a situation where the cost of litigation is rising (not falling) and costs are going to be disproportionate. That can't be what Jackson envisaged, can it?

Also, if Court fees are higher, that means that there will be a bigger outlay from ATE insurers on unsuccessful cases, which will inevitably push ATE premiums higher. Given that the principle of insurance is that the many (who win) pay for the few (who lose) by way of the premium this means that successful Claimants lose more of their damages if they win. How is that promoting access to justice? I accept that the alternative is that Claimants do not bother with ATE (given the QOCS provisions) but that means that they are exposing themselves to a bigger risk than they do currently.

Mr Bower's comments of 02/04/2014 re insurance premiums not falling and the finger of blame being pointed at lawyers seems spot on.