Scottish Parliament consults on raising court fees

Just like the star of Bethlehem, legal costs are in the ascent in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is consulting on raising court fees for Scottish jurisdiction. Its objective is to ensure that the fees collected are sufficient to pay for running its courts.  A “demand-led” remission scheme is available which is intended to protect access to justice.

https://consult.gov.scot/courts/scottish-court-fees-2018-2021/user_uploads/00526265-2.pdf

Court fees have generally been reviewed every three years, with the last full round being implemented in 2015.

In 2016 the Scottish Government concluded that it was necessary to move further towards full-cost recovery in the courts, which has been the policy of the current and previous governments for some time. The Court Fees (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Order 2016 came into force on 28 November 2016.  This order raised the level of fees significantly, although certain fees, such as those in the Sheriff Personal Injury Court, were frozen in order to protect access to justice.  The overall effect was intended to bring the level of fees to the point at which they cover the costs of the civil justice system. 

Inflationary pressures in the wider economy have driven the Scottish Government to adhere to the original three yearly review to set fees for the three- year period commencing on 1 April 2018 (by which point it will be 17 months since the last fees increase).

Unlike the position in England & Wales, where a policy of enhanced court fees has developed, it is not intended that court fees should move to a point where a profit is made (that could be used to subsidise other parts of the justice system).

A separate but connected development is the Civil Litigation (Expenses and Group Proceedings) (Scotland) Bill currently before the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government state that this will make the costs of civil action more predictable by increasing the funding options for pursuers of civil actions through greater availability of “no win, no fee” success fee agreements.   

 It is proposed that qualified one-way cost-shifting should be introduced for personal injury claims and this will also protect pursuers from the risk of having to pay their opponent's costs in personal injury cases if the case is lost, provided they have acted properly (as in England & Wales). 

LEI ensures that personal injury claimants are able to keep their damages in full. Considered together these two developments support the premise that LEI will provide even better value than before for our policyholders in Scotland.

Landlords Legal Solutions

By the way – a reminder that we have updated our Landlords policy to reflect the new landlord and tenant law in Scotland.

With all best wishes for the festive season from the Product Development team at ARAG.

Legal disputes, legal expenses insurance and access to justice

The Ministry of Justice has just released civil justice stats for July to September 2017
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/665073/civil-justice-statistics-quarterly-july-sept-2017.pdf
An increase in claims is evident – in fact a 13% increase over the same quarter last year and this is driven by 15% increase in the number of specified money claims which stand at 560,000 – the second highest number since 2006.
70% of money claims involved sums in dispute of less than £1,000.
The number of cases which are contested and proceed to a trial has increased by some 11%.

The figure I picked up on is that where claims were defended, 56% had legal representation for both claimant and defendant (down one percentage point from July to September 2016), 24% had representation for claimant only (up one percentage point over the same period), and 3% for defendant only.  This points to a considerable gap in affordable access to justice which is the tip of an iceberg. It is impossible to know how many individuals and businesses are deterred from pursuing claims or putting forward a defence by cost barriers and/or lack of confidence and time required to manage their litigation. 
The CJC’ s recent information study, “The Law and Practicalities of Before-the-event (BTE) insurance” found that “BTE offers large numbers of people access to significant assistance, including via legal helplines (and, less commonly, legal websites)”.  https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications/cjc-publish-report-on-before-the-event-legal-expenses-insurance/

Businesses and individuals can quickly recognise savings that exceed the premium they paid for their legal expenses policy by down loading free legal documents and using our helplines.  The barrier to recognising the considerable value of products is lack of awareness of the benefits available.  I am optimistic that awareness is beginning to improve and the CJC’s information study could be influential in contributing to this. More importantly brokers have a huge part to play in helping customers to fully understand how products can help them.

This leads me on to Insurance Product Information Documents. Just a reminder, if you are selling a “standard ”ARAG product  log into our website to down-load our new Insurance Product Information Documents. If the product you are selling is not quite standard we will modify the relevant standard document for you to ensure that it is suitable and send you a customised IPID document.
If you are a product manufacturer and have ARAG cover integrated into your products please get in touch with your broker account manager or me if you would us to supply or approve ARAG content for your IPIDs.

Audit Trail to London

The ISO27001 (Information Security Standard) is managed by a small team, comprising of IT Management (Bob Moreton, Ben Clarkson) and six internal auditors drawn from various departments within the company. The Auditors have been instrumental in ARAG annually retaining this important certification for the last three years.

In recognition of the team doing it “for the love” (as they all have very busy day jobs) they were recently rewarded with a trip to London. First stop on this whistle-stop tour was a visit to the Lloyd’s building in the City of London, kindly arranged by our Underwriting partner Brit, where our team were educated on the history of the market’s roots in maritime insurance and shown around the famous boxes. Our team thought it was interesting to note that the visitor seats that the brokers sit on were shorter and more uncomfortable than the box seats, perhaps demonstrating a position of power and of time constraint!

This was followed by another tour, this time at Brit’s nearby offices in the fabulous Leadenhall Building, although some of the team weren’t so keen on being whizzed up in the glass sided, super-fast lift to the 40th Floor and feeling like it was only just clinging to the outside edge of the building.

Of course, there is no such thing as a free lunch so the team then carried out an audit of the ARAG London office (which opened in 2016) and falls within the scope of the ISO certification. The audit includes ensuring the physical security of the office by querying the visitor process with receptionists, and monitoring the server room which was suitably air conditioned, so the team were unsurprisingly quick in completing this audit - brrr!

To follow on from the earlier maritime theme, the team were rewarded with drinks at The Oyster Shed and dinner in Borough Market, followed by a sleepy train journey back to Bristol.

Many thanks to the whole team for a fantastic day and their hard work throughout the year!

The team includes:

• Ben Parkinson, Broker Account Handler
• David Caines, BTE Underwriter
• Fran Box, Learning & Development Coordinator
• Johanna Graham, CMU Team Leader
• Jordan Wall, Compliance Advisor
• Nigel Sobers, ATE Senior Claims Handler

Video Killed The Radio Star

We are always looking for new and helpful ways to communicate with our customers and a popular addition is a customer-focused animated video explaining what happens if someone has a claim.

Further animated videos are already in production so keep your eyes peeled for these in the new year.

More recent video uploads:

• Update on the clinical negligence market 

• Introducing a new ATE Account Manager 

• How ARAG’s legal advice helpline work

Carefully crafted as brief and incisive, yet informative, they are easy to locate: the latest are displayed on the ARAG website and all can be seen on our YouTube channel.

Better consumer information on the way

Whatever the final outcome of the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD), end-users will be better informed on the insurance products they are buying.

Consultation may yet modify the FCA’s suggestions but the broad concepts will remain and apply from pre-purchase to after the end of the contract:

• know your customer
• know your target market
• facilitate product comparisons and avoid competitive distortions
• provide Insurance Product Information Document (IPID)
• protect customer’s money
• no conflicts of interest

Achieving all these objectives requires a holistic approach within the organisation and then again when the product is retailed, bundled or distributed. Point of sale is of course the most crucial aspect but IDD will impact on product design, sales, HR, data security and many other areas.

The consumer must first be presented with a clear choice that meets their needs and, second, be provided with something that lives up to their expectations.

The new IPID must be in a durable medium, such as on paper, and contain objective details of the product and exclusions. It must be available for renewals and bundled packages where more than one IPID may be needed. Though brief in content, it must give sufficient helpful information to inform the customer’s choice prior to them concluding the contract. It will be up to the retailer to decide the point at which the information is most appropriate to aid that choice. 

Get it wrong and it will of course count against you in ombudsman decisions.

From 0-100

Recent publication of our annual results reveals much about the past and hints towards the future. To amplify his financial summary, MD Tony Buss was interviewed in a video on the ARAG YouTube channel to explain how a decade of growth has firmly underpinned the company’s ambition for the next 10 years.

Successive years of pre-tax profit showed another rise to £2.4 million in 2016, with particularly strong growth in BTE and underlying growth in ATE. Headline figures are also impressive: combined income (including reinsurance business generated back into ARAG SE in Germany) increased by 19 % from £26.5 million to £31.5 million, generating a £4.2 million profit. BTE was up nearly 20% overall with commercial and assistance business accounting for much of this increase.

It took the full ten years to go from 0-100 in terms of staff but selecting the right calibre of personnel, then investing in their training and development has been a core strength in the company’s controlled expansion.

Throughout 2016, there was the familiar combination of regulatory and legal changes to contend with. FCA initiatives and the add-on investigations were ever-present while the heritage of LASPO will continue to colour the picture for some years to come.

Despite the challenges, and partly because of them, there are exciting opportunities ahead for new products, and ARAG is running at full speed, ready to provide more creative, innovative and flexible solutions.

More action on housing disrepair

Events in the news have focussed attention on the sometimes indifferent attitudes towards keeping rented properties in healthy and proper condition. We are working with a number of solicitors who are taking action on behalf of tenants against their landlords, specifically housing associations or local authorities themselves, in instances where properties fall short of the required standard.

The object is to remedy faults, and secure compensation where appropriate, for people who would previously only have had a small voice against big organisations.
ARAG has been helping grow this sector and it fi ts neatly with our aim to continually diversify in the aft er the event market.

Housing disrepair claims typically follow a pattern and because of this we are able to offer a fixed premium, deferred until the end of the case, with standard cover of typically £10,000 for all disbursements and adverse costs.

It is excellent news both for residents of dilapidated, unrepaired or damp dwellings and for those solicitors who have become specialised in this area. As firms become unsettled by negative developments that affect the flow of business in the ATE market, such claims will surely enjoy further interest.

ARAG’s Housing Disrepair cover can be used for either fast or multi-track claims.

Employment dispute? Be prepared for a wait

Roughly 50% of employment disputes are settled between the parties by ACAS early conciliation. However, where settlement cannot be reached, disputes can be escalated to a tribunal hearing.

We are hearing that most area Employment Tribunals are now booking over a year ahead.  

For example, Nottingham is now booking Hearings for Dec 2018 and Croydon is late January 2019.

The National Tribunal User Group met back in June, prior to the UNISON judgment, which resulted in the abolition of employment tribunal (ET) fees.  https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/654111/Employment_Tribunal__NUG_minutes_19th_June_2017.pdf

At that time 67% of cases were disposed of within 6 months of receipt against a target of 75% in England and Wales. The meeting notes refer to judges and non-legal members of tribunal panels retiring and not being replaced and the closure, relocation and merger of court centres.

This stress-inducing situation is most unwelcome and is expected to deteriorate significantly due to an anticipated surge of claims following the abolition of ET fees.

Our policyholders should be assured that the lawyers we appoint will make every endeavour to resolve claims within a reasonable time frame but where cases cannot be settled, their patience could be tested, in view of the delays that we are hearing about.   

The devil in the detail

It is 9 years since Lord Justice Jackson first got the call from the Master of the Rolls to begin his Review of Civil Litigation Costs which made recommendations largely brought into law by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO).

While debates about the post-LASPO regime persist, few would question Jackson’s tenacity. This summer, his latest “supplemental” review, caps months of speculation on the prospect of fixed recoverable costs being extended to cover a much wider range of cases. The implications for the legal profession and for public access to the justice system will still be significant, but his latest recommendations represent a significant step back from earlier proposals.

In January 2016, Jackson urged ministers to fix costs for claims up to £250,000 but his latest review proposes only to fix costs for all claims up to £25,000. As always, the devil will be in the detail, but it is encouraging that Lord Jackson has acknowledged the complexity of clinical negligence cases, so that people who have been harmed by the public health system are not subsequently let down by the justice system.

His review recommends that a bespoke process is established for clinical negligence cases that fall beneath the £25,000 threshold and proposes that a joint Department of Health and Civil Justice Council working group be set up to gather views from both claimant and defendant solicitors. The outcome will be vital to the fairness of any fixed costs regime and to avoid tipping the scales in favour of defendants (most often NHS Resolution) who have already proved willing to play the system to avoid meeting the liabilities presented to them in court. Lord Jackson hasn’t entirely abandoned his aspiration to see fixed costs in much higher value cases, however.

His latest report also sets out plans for a pilot that would provide an optional, streamlined procedure for business and property cases up to £250,000, with fixed costs up to £80,000. Again, how this is implemented will determine both how fair and how successful any further expansion of the fixed costs regime may be, not least in the resources courts will have to deliver swift er and more cost-effective justice.

Fixed recoverable costs are, without doubt, here to stay and likely to be extended. They can offer benefits to all parties in streamlining and speeding up access to justice, but they could also reduce it, so any expansion must be carefully monitored.

Our journey to ICS Service Mark accreditation

ARAG has always differentiated itself from its competitors on quality of service, not just since we launched here in the UK a decade ago, but in Düsseldorf more than 70 years before that. However, there comes a time when all the internal measures and industry awards are not enough and we need to set a more ambitious goal; not just to be the best in our industry, but to be among the best in any industry. That’s why we have just embarked on our path towards Service Mark accreditation with the Institute of Customer Service (ICS).

There are any number of badges and accreditations a company can print on its letterhead or display in reception to suggest service excellence, but for ARAG this is more about the journey than the destination. In fact, we have chosen the ICS because it offers much more than a box-ticking exercise and will really challenge our existing systems and approach.

During this journey we will re-examine our strategic and operational approach to the customer experience. All aspects from measurement, recruitment, learning and development, digital systems and our business processes will come under scrutiny. We will also consider how we can better engage our staff and customers to work more effectively together towards common goal of access to justice.

The work will start in our before-the-event claims department with the aim of achieving Service Mark accreditation by the end of 2019. However, we won’t stop there; the programme will then expand to encompass all our business interactions with all customer types, whether a policyholder, broker, solicitor or anyone else. Our ambition is to have our whole operation Service Mark accredited during 2021.

Getting Data Privacy Right

“Data protection… didn’t we just do that?”

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was still in high school, two Stanford PhD students were in the process of founding Google and none of us had even heard of WiFi, let alone cloud computing, when the UK passed it’s most recent Data Protection Act.

So, it’s fair to say the legislation could do with a tune-up. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will supersede our 1998 Act and similar legislation in every other EU member state, and has been built to unify legislation and strengthen data protection for individuals throughout the EU.

What’s new?
There are new rights for data subjects; new responsibilities for businesses; a new principle: accountability; and much tougher penalties including compensation for data subjects and fines of up to €20 million (more for the very largest companies).

What do brokers need to know?
Far too much to cover here, but BIBA has produced extensive guidance, available online.

What about law firms?
Similarly, solicitors have a lot to be aware of, but the Law Society has created some excellent resources for the profession.

But, but… Brexit?
GDPR will be enforced in the UK regardless of Brexit. It is also expected that its requirements will continue here, whatever the terms of any Brexit deal.

How long have we got?
About 6 months. GDPR compliance must be achieved by May 25, 2018. That may still seem a way off , but we all know how long systems work can take.

Whiplash & discount rate reforms delayed

Earlier this year, we contrasted the media reactions to two significant legal developments as they unfolded.

The first, a long overdue correction to the ‘discount rate’ applied to the settlements in the most serious personal injury cases, had been debated and stalled for years but was met with shock and outrage from insurers and gathered headlines across news, business and finance pages in the national press.

The second, a fundamental change to a common law right to be compensated for injuries caused by another party, was whisked through consultation, past the Justice Select Committee and into a parliamentary bill in a matter of weeks, with barely a murmur.

Since then, a new Lord Chancellor has promised legislation that will allow for his successors to reset the ‘discount rate’ regularly, on the advice of a panel of diverse and independent experts. The parliamentary bill to establish the new mechanism has yet to emerge, and the insurance lobby is growing impatient.

However, David Liddington has revealed that it will maintain the principle of 100% compensation, will use “low risk” as opposed to “very low risk” investments as a benchmark and will review the rate every three years.

Among many measures in the Prison and Courts Bill which ran out of parliamentary time when the snap election was called, the ‘whiplash’ reforms made the headline summary of the Civil Liability Bill included in the Queen’s Speech. Clearly, neither piece of legislation is likely to find its way before parliament until well into 2018, which would make implementation next year unlikely. Such a timetable isn’t going to satisfy insurers though, who are already pressing the Lord Chancellor to adjust the ‘discount rate’ again, before the new process is established.

A better summer for access to justice

It’s often said that a week is a long time in politics, so perhaps it isn’t surprising that the six months since the last edition of the RAG seem like an age.

June’s snap election hadn’t even been called when we were putting together our last issue, and it transformed not just the wider political landscape, but also the immediate future of legislation set to have a major impact on our market and policyholders.

Reforms to tackle the so-called “compensa-tion culture” ran out of parliamentary time, but the political impetus seems to have survived in the Civil Liability Bill.
In spite of the mauling it took at Select Committee, the claim of saving motorists £35 on annual premiums still made the summary of the new bill in the Queen’s Speech. 

Further scrutiny and the government’s diminished position in the House of Commons may force some compromise on the controversial ‘whiplash’ proposals, but the priority demanded by eight pieces of Brexit legislation makes the planned October 2018 implementation seem unlikely.

The courts may have a reputation for moving a little slower than Westminster, but the impact of one decision handed down over the summer is equally important.
In July, the Supreme Court ruled that the fees charged since 2013 to bring a case to an employment tribunal were unlawful. UNISON succeeded in proving that the fees, which ranged from £390 to £1,200, were indirectly discriminatory and restricted access to justice.

As well as sorting out which fees should be refunded (successful applicants may already have recovered them in their settlement) the government will also have to manage increased demand on the tribunal system and ACAS, where the early conciliation process introduced in 2014 is still mandatory.

ARAG’s personal and commercial policyholders have been largely insulated from the fee regime and its reversal, underscoring the great value that legal protection offers, but removing the fees barrier while maintaining the compulsory ACAS process, strikes a balance between the interests of employers and employees.

If all that were not enough, in September, the Ministry of Justice proposed a new mechanism for calculating the ‘discount rate’, in response to the collective outcry thrown by insurers when the rate was revised in February.

Precisely what rate the new mechanism will produce remains to be seen, but a sensible compromise seems likely, so there should be no return to the serious underfunding of long-term care that severely injured people suffered for so long.

While there are still clouds on the horizon, it has been a better summer for access to justice than we might have forecasted and some threats to the stability and great value that our policies off er seem to have abated, for now at least.

Necessity is the mother of invention

Should you need proof that creativity is spurred on by adversity, look no further than the legal expenses sector. ARAG is rolling out new products, taking technology in new directions, and helping grow new business for our partners. All this, despite the challenges on both the political and legal landscapes.

Fee caps, whiplash reforms, increases in small claims levels plus Brexit, place special demands on our resources and business model. Because of this, we have already rebalanced our BTE and ATE portfolios and are able to actively seek new business from a variety of sources in both BTE and ATE sectors.

On the face of it, this is a complicated recipe with which to progress our second decade in the UK. However, nothing has changed in our philosophy of opening the doors to justice for everyone, whatever their financial status. The consistent accolades at awards ceremonies confirm our belief in the highest standards throughout the organisation: our by-words remain innovation, flexibility and service.

Elsewhere in this issue of the RAG we have a lot to say about the Insurance Distribution Directive, BTE developments and the need for employers to reconsider their commercial policies (CLP) now that employment tribunal fees have been scrapped. CLP has proved an enormous growth area, along with assistance services, and we aim to keep all BTE products affordable whilst providing top level cover and service. ARAG will meet the challenges of the market with solutions that benefit all our partners and policyholders.

Upcoming test cases will untangle some of the current impasse over clinical negligence settlements and we will ease some of the current solicitor ‘malaise’ through a new advanced disbursement product, aiding their cash flow.

Housing disrepair continues its strong growth and we are looking to more debt recovery and professional negligence for matrimonial business. Closer ties with solicitors through the pre-paid disbursement product will help introduce ARAG as the ideal partner for employers’ liability and motor business too. We already have our Practice Policy that covers all ATE cases in a firm.

I am pleased to say that we shall continue pursuing clinical negligence claims at the current level. And aft er the hysteria over discount rates earlier this year, insurers and government are getting closer to a more balanced view with a final figure that looks like it will be fairer to claimants.

Now is the winter of our… actually quite contented, thank you very much.

As anyone in the insurance industry knows, claims service can be the hardest thing to get right but great service can often go unappreciated. Winters are inevitably tricky for home emergency claims, which come in waves on the back of bad weather, leaving customers distressed and anxious. So, we’ve been particularly pleased with some of the positive feedback our claims handlers have been getting, as winter arrives.

“Lovely”, “Thrilled” and “Fantastic” are not words often used in the insurance claims process, but all are among the many plaudits offered by ARAG Home Emergency policyholders as we helped them through some of the stressful events that the recent storms brought with them.   

“A lot of our Home Emergency business is in the High Net Worth sector,” comments Head of Sales, Andy Talbot “so, customer expectations are understandably high. But that makes feedback like this all the more gratifying.”

It’s no secret that the key to delivering any service is setting clear expectations and meeting or surpassing them. Customers are generally understanding, even at the worst of times, but they need to feel that someone has a plan and the expertise to put things right, as quickly as possible.

“We don’t try to pretend that we never fall short of our own, very high standards and there are always surprises that old properties and a British winter can throw at you,” continues Andy, “But we’re the first to put our hands up if something doesn’t go according to plan, and the claims teams are brilliant at keeping customers informed and helping them through what are always really stressful times.”

“Quality of service has always been one of the key things that ARAG has differentiated on. So, we really have to deliver on that. As we head into another winter, I’m really pleased that we’re living up to the high standards that partners and policyholders have come to expect of us.”

The RAG - issue 16 - November 2017

It's this time of year again - when our bi-annual news bulletin is out !

You can flick through its pages and zoom in to read all our articles in our interactive flick book below.

 Also, you can download it here : The RAG, Issue 16 - November 2017

Sometimes doing the “right” thing leads to unforeseen consequences

A couple of “issues” have passed my desk recently which leave me with a smarting sense of injustice.

Take Insurance Product Information Documents (IPID)…

My own opinion is that IPIDs are inferior to Key Facts documents in the UK because consumers will receive less information about their insurance product than they previously would have been given.

For example, where products are created by a managing general agent, there is no requirement to show the insurer. More generally, IPIDs do not include information about making a complaint and do not allow exclusions that apply to a particular insured event to be lined up against the description of that insured event. Additionally, there is no space to highlight extra services which complement “what is insured” – such as telephone helplines and in-line legal documents which significantly enhance the value of products for consumers.

We have taken a very flexible approach to product development and have delighted in designing unique features that respond to the needs of specific target customers and give niche cover. As a consequence of our willingness to go the extra mile, ARAG IPIDs will need to reflect the many modifications that we have made. Our innovation has been wide-spread and we have hundreds of “non-standard” wordings to consider. Had we adopted a more intransigent approach and not deviated from our standard product specifications, delivering to the exceptionally tight deadline would have been very much easier.

We also have many “embedded” policies where we have integrated ARAG products into primary insurance products. The “primary insurer” is deemed to be the product manufacturer under these circumstances. We will liaise on an individual basis to supply content for their IPID in relation to the ARAG cover that has been embedded.

We continue to hope that the FCA will agree to a transitional introductory period which will allow us to fully review all of our offerings and create suitable IPIDs for all of those special profile customers. In the meantime, we will be contacting our agents to supply suitable IPIDs very soon.

And what about employment tribunal fee refunds?

While the abolition of unfair employment tribunal fees is a splendidly good thing, it was very disappointing to read that where settlements have been reached between the parties in dispute -with fees being included within the settlement figure, the employer will be unable to apply for a rebate. The employee, who would have paid the fee the first place (but recovered it as part of their settlement), can apply for the refund and will stand to benefit from a “windfall”.  It seems that employers who have “done the right thing” by settling the dispute are being penalised, while those who may have proceeded to tribunal, lost and received an order to pay will be able to obtain a refund.

This seems very unfair as escalating disputes to tribunal is surely a last resort. It is in the best interests of parties to arrive at an amicable settlement.

So, doing the “right” thing sometimes causes detriment however, we will always put our customers first. We remain committed to building products that work well and to raising customer awareness of the benefits they can access when they buy legal expenses cover.   

Why do you need High Net Worth cover?

Most High Net Worth clients are looking for that bit extra from their insurance.
At ARAG we offer comprehensive bespoke cover, higher limits of indemnity, backed by high quality legal advice and partner-led claims handling from solicitors who are experts in their field.

We provide enhanced family, home emergency and motor breakdown products, ensuring our cover is the perfect choice for your client’s needs.

 In summary, we offer:

• 24/7 HNW legal advice line
• flexible, tailored cover 
• pre-vetted, HNW preferred solicitors
• excellent customer service 
• account management
• award winning products & services

Why choose ARAG?

• Faster initial responses to claims notification and quicker initial assessment of claim 
  - 2 day service standard
• Claim handled by ARAG Senior Claims Handler
• Solicitor will be specialist in claim area
• Partner led claims handling at solicitors
• Enhanced service standards  with solicitor throughout claim

For more information please call us on 0117 307 2278.

BIBA Conference & Exhibition 2018

Visit us on Stand B38!

We are delighted to have secured stand B38 at the BIBA Conference & Exhibition 2018, taking place on the 16th & 17th May at Manchester Central.

As well as a great opportunity to showcase our range of legal expenses and assistance products, it’s the perfect time to catch up, over an ARAG coffee, with new and familiar faces. 

Over the two days, our sales team and senior managers will be on hand to discuss how our flexible and innovative solutions can work for you and your customers. However, with over six months to go until the big event, if you would like get in touch with us before then please email enquiries@arag.co.uk.

Click here to register for the event. 

Follow us on Twitter @ARAG_UK and keep updated with all our #BIBA2018 news!

Further discount applied

Last week’s announcement of a new process for setting the discount rate applied to serious injury compensation did not come as quite the surprise that the sudden hike in March did, and the proposals seem targeted on the middle ground between insurers and those representing severely injured accident victims. ARAG’s Product Development Manager Lesley Attu takes a closer look at the announcement.

Liz Truss sent the insurance industry into a tailspin a little over six months ago, when she announced a change to the ‘discount rate” from 2.5% to -0.75%. Share prices dropped, premiums were hiked and the insurers’ PR machines went into somewhat unseemly overdrive, demanding that the ‘crazy’ decision to ensure that people with catastrophic injuries should be adequately compensated, be urgently reviewed.

It may not have come about quite as quickly as some would have liked, but the MoJ’s proposals for a new mechanism to set the discount rate seem designed to strike a compromise. If Lord Chancellor David Liddington’s prediction that the new system would currently generate a rate between 0% and 1%, then it could fall very close to the mid-point between the -0.75% that so outraged the ABI and the 2.5% that it lobbied and fought so hard and for so long to preserve.

The MoJ says it will maintain a 100% compensation rule so that claimants should receive full compensation for the loss caused by the wrongful injury, and not any more, nor any less. It has accepted that the existing legislation governing how the rate is set is unrealistic and could result in awards that significantly overcompensate claimants.

The consequence, it claims, is that the NHS and other public sector bodies can be adversely affected and insurance premiums are inflated.

The MoJ has also acknowledged that injury victims are likely to be more risk averse than ordinary, prudent investors but that “low risk” rather than “very low risk” investments would represent a fairer benchmark. 

Primary legislation is necessary and, once it is passed, the discount rate will be set by the Lord Chancellor, who will take advice from a panel of independent experts. The panel will be chaired by the Government Actuary and will include four other members who will bring experience as an actuary, an investment manager, an economist and a consumer investments expert. HM Treasury will continue to be a statutory consultee for each review, which will take place every three years.

The panel will still be able to set different rates for different types of case, but the principles behind how the rate is set will be set out in the legislation.

So far, the Lord Chancellor’s news has been received more enthusiastically by the insurance industry (and its investors) than those representing injured victims, but only time will tell if the new rate setting mechanism will prove fairer or not.

More cases are going to court

The Ministry of Justice has today published its Q2 civil justice statistics for England and Wales:  http://bit.ly/2vOexrj

Between April to June 2017, increases can be seen across most stages of county court activity (claims, defences, trials and judgments made).

• County court claims volumes are up by 40% compared to the same quarter 2016, driven by specified money claims (for example contractual disputes and debts).

• In April to June 2017, the highest quarterly number of County Court claims were lodged since 2009, at 565,000. Of these, 457,000 were specified money claims (up 54% on April to June 2016).

• Increases have also been seen in non-money claims for the second consecutive quarter.   For example, returns of goods claims have increased by 53% since Q3 2015.

• Claims were more likely to be defended than previously. For claims that had gone to trial in April to June 2017 the figures show a 10% increase in the number of defended cases.

• The average time taken from claim to hearing has increased.

Our view

The above figures corroborate the ever-increasing value of legal expenses protection and on- line legal services. ARAG policyholders can easily access online legal services to chase for outstanding debts and letters are available to download to help businesses, landlords and consumers to resolve a whole range of disputes.
Where, despite chasing for money that is owed, payment cannot be obtained; where the sum in dispute is high or where there is a dispute over goods and services our customers are insured against costs to proceed to litigation. 

ARAG Legal Services - www.araglegal.co.uk

ARAG Legal Services provides access to hundreds of reactive legal documents, forms and letters that customers can easily build on line together with a law guide.


Depending on which ARAG product they have bought the customer will have access to business, consumer or landlord content on the site.  For example, businesses can download a free employment handbook and employment documentation; consumers can download a free will and landlords can download a tenancy agreement and documents to serve notice of possession.  The site gives clear guidance and prompts.

I have been looking at what respondents to our Customer Feedback survey told us about their experience of using our legal services website. Access to the website is available to most of our before-the event legal expenses insurance (LEI) policyholders. It can be useful as a retention tool by providing value to customers who would not otherwise make a claim against their ARAG policy.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the survey results which covered 1 January to the end of July this year:

• 80% of respondents rated the ease of using the website as excellent or very good.
• 89% of respondents rated the quality of documents they created using the service as excellent or very good.
• 80% rated their overall satisfaction with the site as excellent or very good and 
• 90% would recommend the legal services website to family or friends.

We are grateful for the comments customers left as we can learn from the feedback and apply it to make improvements and to provide some educational commentary to help manage users’ expectations. It’s worth telling you more about some of the feedback we have received and I’m going to split my blog into two parts to avoid it being too long. 

Users of the service who have connections to insurance were particularly positive about the site ARAG Legal Services - www.araglegal.co.uk.

For example:

“I registered as an insurance broker, as this is a free service for XXX policyholders I thought I ought to see what was in there.  I must admit I was pleasantly surprised.  H&S and risk assessment advice is most useful to my clients (Motor Trade).  I felt a bit guilty using the log in code, so rang your customer service team to explain I wanted to have a look, and they encouraged me to do so. It has already helped me win one client. Thank you.”

Our response – We would encourage all our brokers to register and explore the site. You should have been given a voucher code but if you haven’t our Sales team can help.  We can help with staff training if that’s needed too.

“I used to manage an insurance brokerage and we were frequently contacted by companies promoting inferior legal cover add on products who concentrated on profit over customer outcomes. We always remained selling ARAG's legal cover as knew the service was exemplary and cover broad. I have always renewed even after leaving that employment and now work in FCA Compliance.”

Our response – It’s great to have such complimentary feedback. Thank you. We want our products to work well for customers. We take a keen interest in the FCA’s work and have been involved in several consultations – notably the Market Study of Add-on products. We support the FCA’s remedies although the value measures will not work for LEI as they are partly based on good outcomes for consumers being evidenced by high loss ratios. The best outcomes for our customers occur when we win their claim and can recover the legal costs from the losing party. The measures also fail to take into account the additional value customers receive from using legal advice helplines and down loading legal documents.

That’s enough bragging – I mean, blogging for now. Look out for part 2 which is more of an “education piece”.

ARAG legal Services – What customers said

This is the second part of my ARAG Legal Services blog.

We are grateful to customers who find time to leave feedback on their experience of using the website.

While I always hope for and never tire of hearing positive customer feedback, we also have some constructive comments that prompt a learning opportunity.

I would like to share a couple of these with you.

One customer wrote:

“I had a query about my policy but was told you did not have access to my schedule, this was problematic as I was passed back and forth between  XXXXXX (business insurer) and yourselves and took 2 hours to find out the information I was looking for”.

Our response -  We’re sorry. This customer had LEI embedded within a business insurance policy. While the business policy would have shown insurer contact details for customer queries, we can understand how the customer became confused. The technical team that look after the site content and deal with IT related issues are not insurance professionals, so we need to consider how best to direct individuals who raise with queries about their insurance policy back to their insurer/ or to our Underwriting team if the query relates to LEI.  We will look at messaging on the contacts page of the website and on our policy wordings to help smooth out the customer journey and direct clients to the right person to help. 

“I received an e-mail saying my enquiry could not be dealt with by them and to ring the legal advice line or submit a claim. As all part of the same company, would have thought my enquiry might have been referred to the appropriate quarter enabling them to contact me with a response. Also, legal advice line number is very expensive and the alternative number provided in the message was wrong. Why can you not use an 0800 number., Not impressed!” Our response - This customer raises a couple of points:          Cost.  The legal advice line phone number is an 0330 number. It costs the same to call as a normal home or business number and calls to the number will be included in landline call packages and mobile talktime and bundles of minutes.  Our legal advisors are happy to make a call- back so that we pick up the cost of calls for customers who are concerned about call costs.          Difficulty contacting us.  Our contact details (phone and e-mail) for general enquiries are shown on the legal services website and a claim form is also available to down- load. We’ve also put up some videos aimed at informing customers what to expect when they report a claim.          Again, our tech team is unable to dispense legal advice or deal with insurance enquiries and we will seek to improve messaging on the legal services website and on our policy wordings to clarify this

Finally,  I think this is a back-handed compliment!

Not what I thought I was paying for although I do like the idea of the free documentation you provide and would look for this from any competitor when I move away from you.

Our response… stay with us!