Sponsored content: Chris Sturridge-Packer, managing director for claims and legal solutions at Gallagher Bassett, discusses how earlier legal insight can provide clients with more choice when dealing with claims
Rising claims costs, increasing litigation risk and higher client expectations are changing how complex claims need to be managed.
Claims are rarely straightforward and legal considerations can no longer sit at the end of the process. Legal expertise needs to inform decisions from the first notification through to liability assessment, negotiation, litigation strategy and recovery.
In my experience, the strongest outcomes come when claims and legal expertise are aligned from the outset.
Too often, legal teams are brought in only once a dispute has escalated or proceedings are underway. By then, evidence gaps may have emerged, the strategy may need to shift and opportunities for earlier resolution may already have been missed.
An integrated model changes that dynamic. When claims handlers and legal specialists assess a matter together, they can identify risk, liability and recovery opportunities sooner.
Triage at the right point helps determine whether a claim should be defended, resolved commercially or pursued for recovery, giving clients a clearer view of their position before costs and exposure build.
This alignment is particularly important for complex or high-value claims, where decisions can carry regulatory, reputational and operational consequences.
A coordinated approach allows evidence to be gathered consistently, third parties to be engaged at the right time and the legal view to develop alongside the broader claims’ response.
Giving clients choices
Just as importantly, legal input does not necessarily mean litigation. Used well, it can help shape liability decisions, correspondence, negotiation approach and recovery options before a matter becomes entrenched.
That gives clients more choice – the confidence to defend claims where appropriate, resolve matters commercially where it makes sense and avoid unnecessary escalation where earlier intervention could deliver a better result.
Data also plays a critical role. Access to claims trends, opponent behaviour and historical outcomes can inform how a claim is managed, whether settlement is appropriate and where a stronger defence position can be built.
Utilised properly, this insight supports more confident decision-making and helps avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. That means legal decisions are not just technically sound, but commercially practical, with a clearer line of sight over cost, duration and likely outcome.
For clients, the benefit is not only speed. It is greater control. A single, coordinated team reduces handovers, limits duplication and keeps decisions focused on the commercial and legal realities of the claim.
It can also improve consistency across portfolios, particularly where organisations are managing multiple matters with similar issues or exposures.
At Gallagher Bassett, our integrated legal solutions model is designed around this principle. Through our owned legal firms, including Strata Solicitors, Caytons and Mays Brown, legal insight is embedded early in the claims lifecycle.
Together, our firms cover motor, property and casualty, marine and financial and professional lines, helping ensure specialist legal expertise is available at the right point.
For me, this is where the industry has an opportunity to shift its thinking. Legal expertise should not be treated as a separate workstream or a last resort when a claim becomes difficult. When claims insight, legal judgement and data are brought together, clients gain more than individual claim resolution – they gain greater consistency, stronger cost control and a clearer path to sustainable outcomes across their portfolio.
