This Act finally came into force on the 1 August 2016.
Since the 1930s Claimants have been able to pursue insurers for an unsatisfied Judgment, having first established liability against a Company. However, this proved problematical if a Company was insolvent or had been dissolved, as an action cannot be brought against a dissolved company.
This meant restoring the Company to the Register to enable an action to be brought for damages regarding the occurrence of a fatal accident or the suffering of personal injuries, before pursuing the relevant insurer.
Given the latency period for many Industrial Disease claims this was a heavy burden on Claimants and inevitably caused delays and additional costs.
Despite the new Act, it would be wise to continue to issue against an insured to prove liability, as well as the known insurer, as more than one insurer may apply to the relevant period and there may be a limit to the value of the policy in place. This can be done in the same action, as occurs with road traffic litigation (The European Communities (Rights Against Insurers) Regulations 2002 which have been in force since 2003 refers).
Insolvency Practitioners are still inevitably going to be the starting point for providing information, in particular, as to the Insurers identity and what cover is in place. However, the Act brings the whole legislation up to date by setting a 28 day deadline for a response to any request, failing which a party can apply to the Court for an Order.
Carol Warmisham is our Personal Injury Specialist, with over 20 years’ of litigation experience in handling a variety of claims for both Claimant and Defendant. If you would like assistance in a personal injury matter, please call Carol on 01524 846846 for further information.
