The Importance Of Expert Knowledge

Like the solicitors at our partner firms, everyone at ARAG recognises the importance of staying up-to-date with the latest legal developments in those practice areas in which our after-the-event policies are used. But such expertise often extends beyond the realms of purely legal knowledge.

Just one example is the progress over recent years in using immunotherapy treatments for mesothelioma, which offer unprecedented and realistic hope for asbestos victims, but at a considerable price.

Trying to include the cost of such treatments in a settlement requires knowledge, not just of the current legal position, but also the latest clinical trials and decisions with regard to NHS funding of such drugs.

Even today, when medical miracles abound, the prognosis for mesothelioma patients is bleak and the standard treatments brutal. A combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy may extend life for some terminally ill patients, but the reprieve is likely to be measured in months, not years.

Relatively new “immunotherapy” drugs, such as nivolumab and pembrolizumab, have been approved for NHS use in treating some cancers under certain circumstances, but trials are still ongoing for mesothelioma patients, so many would have to pay for them personally, to benefit.

The cost, even for a short course of such drugs, currently runs to tens of thousands of pounds which, if they do their job, could turn into an annual bill well into six figures.

Such sums, especially given the uncertainty surrounding both the treatment’s success and for how long it might be needed, inevitably make things very difficult when trying to reach a settlement in this sort of claim.

Nonetheless, I’m very pleased to say that we have had some recent successes with partner firms working on this sort of industrial disease case. Through their diligence and expertise, clients who have been dealt a cruel hand now have the hope afforded by the latest in medical advances.

Such successes demonstrate the importance of all the homework that we and our solicitor firms do to stay in touch with the latest developments in relevant practice areas. They also reflect ARAG’s mission, for more than 80 years, to provide equal access to justice for all citizens, regardless of their means.

In these cases, access to justice might also be the difference between life and death.

Government Consults About Longer Tenancies

The Government is consulting about measures to increase security for tenants in the private rented sector – such as introducing a 3 year tenancy with a 6 month break clause. The private rented sector makes up 20% of all households.

The average length of residence in the private rented sector is 3.9 years in comparison with 17.5 years in the owner occupier sector and 11.3 years in the social sector. However, 81% of tenancies granted are for an initial fixed term of 6 or 12 months

The consultation, which is open until 26 August, seeks views in the barriers to longer tenancies and how to over- come them. Any policy changes brought forward as a result of the consultation will be subject to appropriate assessment. It is likely that further grounds for repossession may be introduced, for example to allow a landlord to sell their property that is subject to a three year let.

With an eye on how reforms may affect our Landlords’ Legal and Commercial Property Owners’ products, we will track the consultation response document and any legislation that emerges to implement changes. In due course you can expect some further blogs as we keep you updated.

To make sure you don't miss future blogs you can subscribe to our updates by entering your email address in the box on the right hand side of this page. 

If you'd like to see the original announcement from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government you can do so here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/longer-tenancy-plans-to-give-renters-more-security

ARAG Legal Services - The easy way to keep your customers up to date on the latest legislation

If your client is a commercial policy holder they can get access to our ARAG Legal Services website. Through this site we publish a regular newsletter produced by Epoq with relevant updates to legislation that could affect your clients. Here’s a sample from the latest newsletter:

Ignorance isn't always an excuse for disability discrimination

There are several types of unlawful disability discrimination. One type is unfavourable treatment because of 'something' arising from a disability. This type of discrimination requires that the employer knows about the disability, and it's only unlawful if it can't be justified.

The question in a recent case was whether the employer, in addition to knowing about the disability, has to know that the something arose from the disability in order to be found guilty of this type of disability discrimination. The Court of Appeal has recently given the answer: no – if the employer knows about the disability, they might be found to have discriminated even if they don't know about that disability's effects.

The claimant, a teacher, had cystic fibrosis, which the school was aware of when they appointed him. This condition causes mucus to build up in the lungs, and to counter that the teacher spent many hours each day in rigorous exercise. This meant he had less time to work than others, and so he had to get a lot done in a short time. When a new headteacher started, his workload increased. All things together meant he struggled to cope with the demands and became stressed.

In this state of stress, he made the mistake of showing Halloween, an 18-rated film, to 15-16 year-olds. He was dismissed for that error of judgment.

The school didn't know of the link between the teacher's condition and his actions – the medical evidence available at the time of the dismissal didn't demonstrate a link. The tribunal therefore found the teacher's dismissal not to be unfair, so his unfair dismissal claim failed.

However, they upheld the claim for discrimination arising from a disability. Knowledge of the consequences of the disability weren't needed for that claim to succeed. Given that the tribunal didn't find the dismissal unfair, how could they also agree that there'd been discrimination?

The answer is that different tests are applied. For unfair dismissal, employers are given a lot of discretion. Tribunals take care not to ask what decision they would have made, but rather whether the employer's decision was within a range of reasonable responses. For this type of discrimination, on the other hand, the courts consider objectively whether an employer's action was a proportionate response to the claimant's actions. They noted, in particular, that if the school had made reasonable adjustments the teacher would not have been in that position.

What this means for you

This shows that you should consider all the consequences of your actions and, especially if an employee has a disability, you should actively consider reasonable adjustments. If you can justify all your actions you shouldn't be found guilty of any type of discrimination.

How we can help

If you need further information about an employee's health conditions, you may wish to use our Letter to an employee seeking consent to a medical examination*.

To get access to the ARAG Legal Services website all your customers need to do is go to www.araglegal.co.uk and register, using the voucher code printed on their policy wording. Once there they will be able to sign up for the newsletter, read old issues and access the library of form letters and other helpful resources.

*This letter is also available on the ARAG Legal Services site to commercial policy holders. 

Have you and your clients registered with our Business Legal services website to receive free monthly business law bulletins?

This month’s bulletin is out. Subscribers can read about “last straw” resignations – which can expose businesses to claims for unfair dismissal, get practical advice and brush up on disability discrimination law and there’s also an item on planning law.

To receive our monthly business law bulletins, you will need to opt-in when prompted at the time you register to use the site for the first time. Registration is simple and will give you/your clients access to the law guide and a comprehensive range of sophisticated legal documents which can be customised to meet circumstances. The result is far superior to using flat template documents that have to be amended to meet business needs and our documents can be relied upon in court without seeking further legal guidance.

If you’ve already registered to use the Business Legal Services web site but didn’t opt-in to receive our business bulletins, you can change your preferences by clicking through to “My Account”.

D-ARAG-ON RACERS!

On Sunday the 10th of June our team of Viking warriors, the D-ARAG-ON RACERS, took part in the Bristol Dragon Boat Festival. This festival is an annual event organised by the Rotary Club of Bristol in order to raise money for Caring in Bristol, a charity to benefit the homeless.

After weeks of training an elite team of 20 D-ARAG-ONS took to the high seas (well, the Bristol harbour) and raced against 29 other teams to see who could cover 200m in as short a time as possible. We had three attempts at this and got better with every run. Our final round we were over 5 seconds faster than the first!

Whilst we came 27^th out of 30 we still had a great time on the day, raising money for Caring in Bristol and our charity of the year Focus. We managed to raise £1,182.50 (including Gift Aid) in advance and even more on the day in cash donations from fans and supporters.

We also had an ARAG yellow gazebo set up by the water all day with our Head of Sales, Andy Talbot, flipping burgers for hours on end to keep the hungry D-ARAG-ONS and their friends and family fuelled up for the races.

It was a really great day, with fantastic weather and a lot of fun had by all. And we were watching the techniques of the best teams, so we’ll do much better next time!

If you'd like to donate towards this great cause you can do so by clicking here to go to our Virgin Money Giving page.

Click here to watch the team warming up!