Chief executive in call to insurers for "fighting fund"

A loss adjuster has called on insurers to build a “fighting fund” to avoid settling claims test cases too early.

Declan Treanor, chief executive of Garwyn, acknowledged that the ABI had been supportive of insurers fighting claims battles on issues such as pleural plaques.

But he said companies should have access to money to allow them to challenge all cases. “What about the smaller things where a principle is involved, or where by winning a relatively small case there is a long-term benefit to the industry?”

Treanor said smaller insurers had less money to take a case to the High Court, while larger companies had to pick their battles so they could manage their legal costs.

He said a possible solution was a central fund run by the ABI that insurers could use to fight more cases on principle.

But Justin Jacobs, head of liability, motor and risk pricing at the ABI, said: “Insurers settle claims as quickly as they can based on the customers’ interests.”