Decision details

Legal Services for insurance claims handling for litigated claims and complex pre-litigated claims.

The Executive Director approves the procurement of Legal Services in respect of insurance claims handling. 

High quality specialist legal services in respect of insurance claims handling is the most effective way for the Council to manage its insurance liabilities.

It contributes significantly to the £22 million of defended claims over the preceding 7 years.

The Council’s insurance providers make it a condition of the delegated claims handling authority provided to the Council that appropriate specialist expertise requires their approval. A competitive, specifically targeted tender in terms of relevant expertise satisfies this requirement.

The variety and complexity of the types of claims make it commercially unviable to retain in-house expertise to handle all types of claims for which external legal advice is required. However, where expertise exists and there is capacity we will work with Legal Services to identify claims that can be retained in-house.

The terms of our insurers’ delegated claims handling authority requires an agreed framework of providers, and any internal appointments will be subject to the agreement of the Council’s insurers and subject to their audit requirements.

The Council’s existing external legal framework does not include a specification for insurance claims handling and the award of such contracts was not assessed inclusive of this expertise, and has not been approved by the Council’s insurers. Consequently we cannot procure the service via an existing contract.

Litigated claims are unavoidable, so “do nothing” is not an option.