Standard limitation clauses may not protect professionals from liability warns James Burgoyne, Director, Brunel Professional Risks, after the High Court ruled that a man who blamed a five-year-old for large losses on his online betting account was not bound by…read more
Consumers’ duty to disclose information scrapped
Consumers duty to disclose all relevant information to insurance companies when buying an insurance policy has changed, following the first major shakeup of insurance disclosure in over a century. The Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act received Royal Assent on…read more
Use specialists to buy professional indemnity insurance warns Brunel
Professional indemnity insurance (PII) provides professionals with essential protection against claims for negligence from clients and in many cases is a compulsory requirement of professional bodies. Unfortunately some professionals have been misled into buying inadequate cover by under-qualified brokers or…read more
Must a claimant always provide expert evidence to support a professional negligence claim?
Expert evidence, to support an accusation of negligence against a professional, will not always be needed in the early stages of a claim following decisions in two recent court cases. Usually, a client accusing a professional of negligence would be…read more
Managing General Agents Association to be launched
A new trade association to represent the interests of managing general agents (MGA) is expected to be launched on 1 January 2012. A steering committee to launch the Managing General Agents Association was established in October 2011 and aims to…read more
December 2011 – RICS launches consultation into market “failure”
Following members’ concerns regarding the availability of professional indemnity (PI) cover amid market anxiety of an upsurge in claims against surveyors, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has published a consultation document calling for dialogue between interested parties over…read more
Consulting engineer liable for fall in property value says Court of Appeal
A firm of consulting engineers has been found liable for the fall in property values following its failure to meet the completion date of a road on a new development. The decision calls into doubt the widely-held view developed in…read more
Contractors not liable for spotting design deficiencies says judge
Architects, structural engineers and other design professionals cannot expect contractors to share the blame if the contractors fail to warn them about deficiencies in their designs according to a recent court case, Cleightonhills v Bembridge Marine. The case has important…read more
SRA starts enforcement against firms without compliance officers
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is “moving into the enforcement phase” for firms which have failed to appoint compliance officers. Around three per cent of the 10,000 law firms regulated by the SRA are expected to be affected. All law…read more
Tough new rules for Claims Management Companies
Claims Management Companies (CMC) will have to get written agreement from clients before pursuing claims and charging a fee under tough new conduct rules to be introduced by the Claims Management Regulator this summer.The new conduct rules come on top…read more
