William Flenley hopes civil law reform will sit high on the government’s agenda
AXA Insurance Ltd v Akther & Darby [2009] EWHC 635 (Comm), [2009] PNLR 25 is the latest in a long line of cases grappling with the cause of action accrued in a claim in tort for economic loss. It is another example of the court distinguishing the House of Lords’ reasoning in Law Society v Sephton [2006] 3 All ER 401. CLE was a company which provided after-the-event insurance to members of the public. It relied on a panel of solicitors to vet claims and (i) only to accept claims with chances of success of greater than 50%, and (ii) to notify insurers if subsequent events reduced the chances of success below 50%.
It is now said that the panel solicitors were negligent in either vetting or subsequently reporting on 26,000 claims and £65m is claimed from the solicitors. Limitation issues arose in relation to 7,383 claims. This led to a two day preliminary trial and a detailed and helpful judgment
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