Saxon Insurance boss Brian Wright has reached an out of court settlement over an action that alleged one of his companies charged a former client more than £15,000 in excess premiums for net rated buildings cover.
The case against intermediary Hill Arch was due to be heard before a district judge at Hull County Court on Wednesday (June 20). But claimant Michael Lee, managing director of student lettings company Kexgill, decided to settle the case after Wright paid £10,000.
Lee said: “I am very dissatisfied at the outcome because I wanted to go to court to have my case heard. However, because of a legal loophole, the damages I may have received would have been dwarfed by the legal costs.”
Reforms introduced by Lord Woolf encourage claimants to settle legal disputes using negotiation rather litigation.
Lee said the amount paid by Wright to settle the case was approximately two-thirds of what he was seeking.
Although Wright has now settled the case, Lee said the Saxon Insurance chief would have to pay his legal costs, which he estimated were £25,000.
Wright has always contested Kexgill's claims that it had paid more than £15,000 in excess premiums for buildings cover on 180 student properties over a three-year period.
Lee said the issue came to light when he was sent a renewal notice from his insurer Guardian, showing a different figure to the one he received from Hill Arch.
