Jackson Report published
The much-anticipated Jackson Report on Civil Litigation Costs has been published as we go to press, and hits out at claims managers and ATE insurers, while providing encouragement for liability insurers and defendants.
Should the recommendations of the report be implemented, many claims management companies could struggle due to the recommendation that referral fees should be banned.
However, Jackson does acknowledge that banning referral fees may not be as easy as it appears. In a New Law Journal webcast focussing on the report, the eminent judge His Honour Michael Cook summed up the difficulty: “I don’t know how it will be implemented,” he said. “There are so many ways of showing your appreciation…”
Andrew Twambley of Amelans is certain that the claims farmers’ days are numbered. “They should be very worried,” he says. “Jackson is evidently very keen to see an end to the referral fees on which they rely. He makes it clear that they do very little except add unnecessary costs.”
The real winners from the report are defendants. His Honour Michael Cook described the Report as introducing “a new concept of access to justice for defendants.”
However, some in the industry are relatively unperturbed by the report. “From the perspective of the smaller accident management company I see the portions of the report which affect us as positive,” says Paul Manning of Evolution Legal.
“Contingency fees will be easier for claimants to understand and the reality will match their expectations that fees will be taken from compensation – which of course at present it is not.
“Therefore on the whole, I expect more potential claimants will be prepared to proceed with claims,” he says.
“Of course we will have to adjust our procedures but I don’t expect our revenue streams to be affected at all, irrespective of whether referral fees are banned or not.”
We’ll be taking a detailed look at how the Jackson Report may affect different sectors of the industry in the next issue of Claims Management. If you would like to contribute to the debate, contact the editor at james@barkerbrooks.co.uk.