Neil Kinsella Chief Executive of RJW Slater & Gordon Lawyers UK expresses his concerns over the news that insurance companies plan to set up law firms - it’s not in the clients' interests. To ensure probity, transparency and fairness, insurance companies should be reducing their involvement in the law, not increasing it. Sir, The news that insurance firms are planning to set up their own law firms is akin to the fox guarding the chicken coop (“Insurers plan their own legal DIY to hammer down costs”, Business, Aug 13). This would lead to significant and serious conflicts of interest, particularly in relation to Personal Injury cases. For some time the insurance industry has sought to blame lawyers for increased premiums. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has been arguing that expensive legal costs and spurious claims are to blame for driving up the nation’s insurance premiums. The ABI does not mention that the majority of these claims are prompted in the first instance, not by the claimant, but by their insurer. The ABI has made headwind with this campaign, tarring many legitimate accident victims with the same brush. Some have been quick to jump on this bandwagon because it appears straightforward, but they have failed to check the facts or think about the consequences where genuine accident victims are being bullied or denied fair compensation. This campaign seeks to minimise claimants’ access to professional, independent legal support. Yet insurers are not afraid to incur significant legal expense when it suits them to do so (i.e., when their bottom line is at risk). Insurers were responsible for one of the longest cases in British legal history as they, ultimately unsuccessfully, fought to minimise their risk to claims from victims of Mesothelioma, a Cancer resulting from exposure to Asbestos. To ensure probity, transparency and most importantly fairness in matters that can often be of life and death, insurance companies should be reducing their involvement in the law, not increasing it. The conflicted insurance companies will end up being judge and jury in these cases. How can we expect them to do what is in the client’s best interest when it isn’t in their financial interest?
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