Defendants concede that premium recoverability is not linked to regulation 4 Conditional Fee Agreement Regulations, as per English v Clipson.
As readers will be aware, defendant insurers, directly or through their solicitors or costs negotiators, have been refusing to pay ATE premiums relying upon the controversial decision of a Peterborough District Judge in English v Clipson.
One wonders at their reasons for so doing when Ian Burnett QC their counsel conceded as follows: "May I clarify the position concerning the premium. As we have submitted, the consequence of the person giving the regulation 4 information not being the legal representative is that the CFA is illegal and unenforceable.
"Thus the retainer fails and no costs may be recovered under it.
"The TAG agreement in respect of which the TAG premium is paid is not within the retainer."
The only people to have suffered as a result of insurers' refusal to pay ATE premiums are the claimants themselves who have had to wait for this concession.
Anthony Dennison
Rowe Cohen Solicitors
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