Professional Indemnity/ Negligence

Recent Articles

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  19/02/2025

  England

  Claims and consequences: professional indemnity in the UK

  The UK professional indemnity insurance market is worth over £3 billion in policy premiums and has around 1.5 million policy holders. There were 792 litigated professional indemnity claims in England & Wales since 2020. We’ve been busy over the last couple of months finalising our analysis of these 792 litigated professional indemnity claims. As well as looking at the overall trends, we’ve focused on four sectors: accountancy, construction, solicitors and surveyors.Litigation trends form an important part of the PI landscape and here are a few of our findings:Solicitors have...

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  19/02/2025

  United Kingdom

  Reflections on the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010, 8 years later

  The Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010 (the “2010 Act”) came into force on 1 August 2016 and replaced the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 1930 (the “1930 Act”).  Details of the 2010 Act itself can be found in our Insurance Legislation Zone – here. In summary, the 2010 Act enables a third party that has suffered loss caused by an insured who has gone insolvent to bring proceedings directly against the insured’s liability insurers. This avoids the need for the third party to litigate against the insolvent insured before it is able...

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  18/02/2025

  Scotland

  Do ‘legal black holes’ exist in Scots law?

  In the case of Arthur Simmers v Green Cat Renewables Limited and Green Cat Contracting Limited[1], the Court of Session has revisited the principle of transferred loss and whether it forms part of Scots law. This principle relates to whether there are situations in which one contracting party may sue their counterparty for losses suffered by a third party, who is not a party to the contract. The Court decided in this case that the pursuer had not pled a relevant transferred loss claim. Whether or not the principle of transferred loss forms part of Scots law remains uncertain but the Court confirmed,...

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  11/02/2025

  England and Wales

  Loss of Chance in broker’s negligence claim - Norman Hay PLC v Marsh Ltd – Part 2

  Our previous article (here) considered the judgment in Norman Hay PLC v Marsh Ltd [2024] EWHC 1039 (Comm), the high court’s decision in an application by a broker to summarily dismiss the claim against it for allegedly failing to obtain cover which would respond to a claim. The Commercial Court did not agree with the broker that it would be appropriate to strike out the claimant’s claim, and the broker appealed this decision. The Court of Appeal ultimately agreed with the Commercial Court and the case will now proceed to a full trial. The Court of Appeal found that the Court’s...

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  14/01/2025

  United Kingdom

  No epidemic of Covid-19 Employers Liability claims - Edwards & Others v 2 Sisters Food Group Ltd [2024] EWCC 21 considered

  In Edwards & Others v 2 Sisters Food Group Ltd [2024] EWCC 21, the defendant successfully applied for summary judgment against all claimants on the basis that their claims had no realistic prospect of success.The claimants worked at 2 Sisters Food Group’s chicken factory in Llangefni, Anglesey. All claimed that they had developed symptoms of Covid-19 in or around June 2020. It was alleged that 2 Sisters had breached its duty of care towards them, failing to take all reasonable steps to manage the risk of transmission within the factory, and that their Covid-19 disease had been caused...

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  28/11/2024

  United Kingdom

  Insights on contribution claims under the 2010 Act from Riedweg v HCC International Insurance Plc & Anor

  The decision in Riedweg v HCC International Insurance Plc & Anor [2024] EWHC 2805 (Ch) provides critical guidance for insurers on potential contribution claims or recovery actions where there is a claim against them pursuant to the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 2010 (2010 Act).BackgroundThe case of Riedweg concerned a professional negligence claim brought by Nicole Marlene Riedweg (the claimant). The claimant alleged that Goldplaza Berkeley Square Ltd (Goldplaza) had negligently overvalued a property she contracted to purchase for £8 million in December 2016.  The claimant...

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