THE JACKSON REPORT AND THE FUTURE OF LEGAL EXPENSES

The future of the legal expenses industry in the wake of Lord Justice Jackson’s reforms is increasingly under the spotlight.

The impact on After the Event (ATE) insurance and the opportunities for Before the Event (BTE) insurance is polarising some views in the sector. However, what is clear is that there are potentially as many opportunities as there are threats.

Richard Finan, Director of Arc Legal argues that ATE insurers have to diversify their product base to operate effectively in the post-Jackson era and sees some evidence that insurers are shifting towards non personal injury litigation areas as a response to the challenges ahead.

BTE insurance has been mooted as a potential replacement for ATE. Jackson’s promotion of stand-alone BTE as an approach has not been welcomed by the sector. Richard says Arc Legal believes that the stand-alone model is not feasible particularly as UK consumers are accustomed to a low cost, add-on model. Richard wants to see BTE brought into government discussions rather than there being an unrealistic assumption that the sector will automatically pick up these risks and write products.

Richard was speaking to Post Magazine and the full article can found at www.postonline.co.uk.