Notification of any claims
With the increased
number of liability claims it is becoming all the more important
that you let us know of any incidents when they occur that may
lead to a claim. Recently we have had a number of claims reported
to us after a legal claim has been made against the home, rather
than at the time of the incident. Insurers first question is
why was the claim reported late and what evidence is now available
to mount a reasonable defence.
Invariably those who were aware of the circumstances at the
time have either forgotten or are no longer employed at the
home and the records are inadequate to allow insurers to mount
a defence. We have recently seen a claim reserve for an employers'
liability claim rise to £350,000 - the highest we have ever
seen for one of our clients. This is simply because the client
has no real records enabling insurers to enter a defence and,
due to late reporting, the Access to Justice reforms may result
in the court finding against our client, despite there being
a very real question as to whether the alleged accident ever
happened or not. We have already received insurer's agreement
that this one-off incident will not affect the premiums of any
other care home client insured with CHIS.
The majority of employer's liability claims result from an employee
tripping, slipping or falling at the home or injuring themselves
when attempting a task they have either been trained not to
do or a task they have not been trained to do, e.g. lifting.
If there is an incident where a member of staff/public have
an accident within the home or its grounds please do let us
know and we will ask you to complete a report form which will
be passed to Insurers for notification purposes only and so
they can make sure the paperwork required to enter any defence
is readily available.
Moral of the story: Make sure full and complete records
are maintained and CHIS are informed of any incident which you
believe has the potential of becoming an insurance claim at
the time of the incident, not at the time the individual enters
a legal claim against you. We can then make sure you do not
have claims reserved against your home of the magnitude detailed
in this case study.
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