Lloyd's has opened a claims mediation centre to provide the London market with direct access to a resource for solving problem claims.
The Claims Mediation Centre has been set up in response to calls from the market for less costly ways of resolving difficult claims.
Peter Ashdown-Barr, CEO of InterMediation, the company which set up the mediation centre, said: "The Claims Mediation Centre is geared to dealing with problem claims.
"The objective is to prevent costly and prolonged disputes by narrowing issues and co-ordinating discussions, mediation and other options through the centre."
The centre is open to claimants, insurers, reinsurers, brokers, lawyers and all those involved in handling claims. Ashdown-Barr added: "Mediators work as neutrals between all parties and are only called in when negotiations have broken down. This can be at any stage in the claims cycle
and often brings about a breakthrough. Quite apart from the cost savings, this can preserve relationships."
Leading commercial mediator Andrew Paton said: "Placing an insurance mediation centre in the heart of the world's most important insurance market will undoubtedly be a major benefit to all concerned."
