Third parties insurers bill completes Commons stages

24 March 2010

Bridget Prentice, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Justice, moved the report stage and third reading of the Third parties (Rights against Insurers) Bill. The measure - which originally started in the Lords - has now passed all its Commons stages.

Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Bill

The purpose of the Bill is to amend existing laws governing the relationship between insurers and claimants, to make it easier and cheaper to claim compensation from insolvent defendants.

Current laws demand that claimants must establish an insolvent defendant’s liability before bringing a separate claim against their insurer. The Bill would allow claimants to sue the insolvent defendant’s insurer directly, without having to sue the wrongdoer first.

Key areas

  • removing the need for separate proceedings to establish the insured parties’ liability before suing the insurer, thereby reducing time and costs
  • claimants to be provided with the right to obtain insurance policy information quicker to establish the likelihood of success
  • existing law in relation to the involvement of foreign companies would be clarified
  • existing requirements for a dissolved company to be restored to the register of companies would be removed

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