Employers' liability insurer Iron Trades has seen tremendous growth in the number of stress-related claims that it handles, delegates at the fourth Iron Trades Annual Insurance Conference were told.
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Employers' liability insurer Iron Trades has seen tremendous growth in the number of stress-related claims that it handles, delegates at the fourth Iron Trades Annual Insurance Conference were told.
Iron Trades complex loss team manager Mike Noonan said the number of claims had doubled each year since 1995.
This was reinforced by other conference speakers from the TUC, the Health and Safety Executive and several law firms. They said stress-related claims, together with a worsening compensation culture, presented a significant challenge to employers and their insurers.
However, the conference also heard that last week's Court of Appeal ruling, where three stress-related cases were overturned, had provided a framework for future cases. According to Noonan, it had laid down a "conservative, realistic approach" for stress-related claims.
Barlow Lyde & Gilbert partner John Goodman told the conference the judgment did not mean the end to stress-related claims, but that fewer, but stronger, claims were likely to be funded. He added that increasingly they would be structured in terms of "harassment" rather than "overwork".
Goodman said the judgment also indicated the value of confidential advice services for employees. He said that employees should be encouraged to use those services.
The Court of Appeal's ruling indicated that if an employee pursuing a claim failed to use a counselling service the liability of an employer would be reduced.
His colleague at Barlow Lyde & Gilbert, Gary Freer, also pointed out that typical employers' liability cover did not cover all possible personal injury claims, such as injury to feelings or unfair dismissal.
He urged companies to take out the necessary cover through add-ons or alternative products.
