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■ The Scottish Spina Bifida Association received legacies totalling £600,000 last year.This allowed it to embark on an ambitious project to build a much needed family support centre, the first in Scotland to be equipped with a telemedicine suite enabling patients to receive medical advice via video-conferencing equipment from health professionals in hospitals across the UK. Making it the norm Remember A Charity is not pushing for particular charities or sector areas to be represented but is concerned with the issue of charitable legacies as a whole.The campaign hopes to make leaving a charitable donation the automatic www.journalonline.co.uk thing for all of us to do when writing a will and has produced a free will guide for consumers and professionals. If you would like further information on Remember A Charity or to become a campaign supporter, please visit www.rememberacharity.org.uk or phone 020 7840 1030. All charities and all qualified solicitors are welcome. Crispin Ellison, Executive Director, The Institute of Legacy Management: www.ilmnet.org Carole Hope, Partner, Murray Beith Murray: www.murraybeith.co.uk Jonathan Parris, Director, Remember A Charity: www.rememberacharity.org Care card and helpline provide for faithful friend Clients who wonder what would happen to their dog if they were to die suddenly die can take advantage of a free service offered by Dogs Trust. The Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, issues the “Canine Care Card” – the same size as a credit card and which can be carried like an organ donor card – through which the Trust promises to look after dogs in the event of the owner’s death. A leaflet entitled “Canine Care Card” and a registration form can be downloaded from the Dog Advice section of the Trust website www.dogstrust.org.uk . Clients can also talk to someone in confidence about Dogs Trust caring for their dog after their lifetime, by calling Nana Ayebiara- Arhu on 020 7833 7645 or writing to her at Dogs Trust, FREEPOST WD360, 17 Wakley Street, London, EC1V 7RQ. Dogs Trust never destroys a healthy dog and its mission is to reach the day when all dogs can enjoy a happy life, free from the threat of unnecessary destruction.A healthy dog is never put to sleep and the Trust attempts to match every dog with a responsible, loving new home, no matter how long this may take. The Journal: December 2005 : 27
professional practice New deal for PI CLAIMS After lengthy negotiations the Society has reached agreement with leading insurers on the terms of a Voluntary Pre-Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims. GRAEME GARRETT of Digby Brown, a member of the working party, introduces the document, which is reproduced on the following pages Over the past two years a working party of the Law Society of Scotland (LSS) has been engaged in discussions with representatives of the Forum of Scottish Claims Managers (FSCM) in an effort to develop a voluntary protocol for handling personal injury claims. Those discussions took place against the background of a general deterioration in relations between claimants’ solicitors and insurers following the refusal of many insurers to pay the “new” Chapter 10 scale fee introduced by the Society in January 2004.Those firms who had access to litigation funding opted to litigate rather than to attempt a negotiated settlement in the certain knowledge that the recoverable fee would be most unlikely to reflect properly the work done. This approach was never likely to endear itself to the insurers, and their position in discussions has been that they would be prepared to pay an increased fee in return for a Voluntary Preaction Protocol.The terms of the Protocol have now been agreed by both sides. A joint statement by the LSS and the FSCM follows this article. A list of participating insurers is appended to the Protocol (Appendix C, page 35 below). The Protocol will apply to claims intimated after 1 January 2006. Key features The key features of the Protocol are: ■ It is a voluntary protocol – on both sides. A pursuer’s solicitor may elect, but cannot be compelled, to pursue a particular claim under the Protocol. Equally, an insurer may agree, but cannot 28 : The Journal: December 2005 be compelled, to deal with a claim as a Protocol claim. ■ It applies only to claims involving a personal injury element. Claims for property damage only are excluded. ■ Industrial disease cases are excluded. ■ It is designed primarily for claims with a value of up to £10,000, although there is nothing to prevent parties dealing with higher value claims under the Protocol by mutual agreement. ■ The enhanced fee, described since the demise of scale fees as a “Protocol fee”, will be paid only in those cases which are settled under the protocol.The Protocol fees are set out in Appendix B (page 35 below). Fees will be reviewed annually. Intimating the claim The pursuer’s solicitor initiates the process by intimating a claim using style letter A1 (where intimation is made directly to the insurer) or style letter A2 (where intimation is made to the defender). For reasons related to data protection and identity theft, it was thought to be inappropriate to disclose personal details such as dates of birth and national insurance numbers to defenders: this information is omitted in style A2. The timetable will run from the date the insurer receives the letter of claim – a defender may delay in forwarding the letter to his insurer. Where the identity of the insurer is known, it will generally be in the interests of both parties for intimation to be made directly to the insurer.The letter of claim proposes that the claim should be dealt with under the Protocol. There is attached to the Protocol a standard disclosure list of documents which the pursuer’s solicitor may request when submitting the letter of claim or at a later stage.The list contains most of the documents which are likely to be material but is not exhaustive. It should be emphasised that only those documents which are considered to be relevant to the claim should be requested. Investigating the merits The insurer should acknowledge receipt of the letter of claim within 21 days using style letter B and should confirm whether or not the claim is suitable for the Protocol. It is this letter which starts the three month period for investigation of the liability aspects of the claim. By the end of that period the insurer must indicate whether liability is admitted or denied and whether contributory negligence is alleged. If liability is denied, reasons must be given. Similarly, reasons for contributory negligence must be provided. If liability is denied to any extent, all relevant documents requested by the pursuer’s solicitor should be produced. In cases with a value of £10,000 or less, any admission of liability will be binding in subsequent proceedings, the exception being where the claim is subsequently discovered to be fraudulent. The medical report Once liability has been admitted, in whole or in part, the pursuer’s solicitor should instruct a medical report within five weeks. If the solicitor considers that it is premature to instruct a report because, for example, the pursuer is still undergoing treatment or is awaiting surgery, he should explain this to the insurer and seek to agree an amended timetable.When the medical www.journalonline.co.uk
Page 1 and 2: THE ournal OF THE LAW SOCIETY OF SC
Page 3 and 4: editorial The Society’s call on t
Page 5 and 6: FORTHCOMING EVENTS (CPD Hours in Br
Page 7 and 8: letters Send your letters to The Ed
Page 9 and 10: CIVIL JUSTICE Last month the workin
Page 11 and 12: CIVIL JUSTICE The real access to ju
Page 13 and 14: CIVIL JUSTICE “The adversarial sy
Page 15 and 16: WITNESSES Minister: Continued effor
Page 17 and 18: LETTING LETTING in the LAW EMMA FUR
Page 19 and 20: PENSIONS As pensions “A-Day” ap
Page 21 and 22: PENSIONS In addition there are a se
Page 23: CHARITIES How the profession can he
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Page 37 and 38: IN-COURT ADVICE ACCESS ROUTE Curren
Page 39 and 40: SOCIETY INBRIEF COST OF TIME SURVEY
Page 41 and 42: SOCIETY Stirling celebrates LLB lau
Page 43 and 44: SOCIETY The UK’s term at the helm
Page 45 and 46: people AITKEN NAIRN,WS, Edinburgh,
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Page 49 and 50: professional briefing 52 : AGRICULT
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Page 55 and 56: property lawyer UNVEILING THE ISLAM
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