The Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010 comes into operation on 1 August 2016. This will allow claimants to recover compensation directly from insurers where the defendant is insolvent. This will make it easier for claimants to recover amounts from insurers, although they will still have to show there would have been liability against the defendant. In the case of insolvent companies, it will no longer be necessary to restore the companies first.
The Act also allows for early disclosure of the insurance arrangements, so that a claimant will know in advance whether the defendant’s insurance policy will respond.
It appears that the provisions of the act will be retrospective in effect and claimants will need to check if they can now pursue a claim where they could not previously have done so.
For more information on any of the issue raised in this article or on property insurance litigation matters in general, contact our Property Insurance Litigation team or tel: 0117 904 6000.
