1. AFTER THE EVENT INSURANCE
Finance and Legal

2. WHY HAVE ATE?
1.Medco has created uncertainty
regarding experts willingness to
waive the fee.
Most clients would prefer to pay
circa £100 from their personal
injury damages to protect against a
£216 liability.
2.Obtaining ATE at the point of issue is both difficult and more expensive.

3. Key Elements of the Policy
Protect against disbursement liability
pre-issue – eg. Medical Fee
Self Insured Premium
Low RTA Premium - £120 plus IPT
Must be obtained within 14 days of the CFA date
Can be cancelled within 90 days of inception

4. Is ATE suitable for Non-RTA claims?
The policy premiums are proportionate for the following types of claim :
Accidents at Work - £289 plus IPT
Slip/Trip Accidents - £349 plus IPT
Other types of accident claims will be subject to a bespoke request which will need to be dealt with on a case by case basis.

5. Why would ATE be advisable on non-RTA claims?
The policy would provide protection against disbursements including medical records
The policy will provide cover for the making of a pre-action disclosure application and therefore help progress the claim at an early stage
Obtaining a policy for these type of claims at the point of issue can often lead to premiums which exceed the court fees

6. Why Financial & Legal Limited?
We have not carried out a full survey of the ATE market and we do not recommend this policy specifically to the client;
The Insurer is based in this country and is registered with the FCS;
The Premiums are very competitive and are among the lowest available;
We are granted delegated authority which avoids the need for continued updates and requests for authority to proceed.
WE DO NOT :
Think F & L Limited provide the best insurance cover;
Receive either directly or inddirectly any financial advantage or incentive for using F & L Legal

7. When issuing the policy for the client we must provide the client :
Demands and Needs Statement which explains why we think the policy is suitable;
Copy of the Policy Schedule;
Copy of the Policy Key Facts;
Copy of the Policy Terms and Conditions.
These are available as a downloadable document at the end of this presentation.
As you are their legal representative you must have read and understood all of these documents to enable you to advise the client.

8. PROCLAIM ATE WORKFLOW Part A : Amendments to initial Letters.
When running the Initial Letters Linked Action the following letters will now be updated :
Client Care Letter – will include reference to the option of ATE with Financial & Legal Ltd ;
The Funding Information Form specifically suggests that the client obtain a policy with F & L Legal.
The Funding Form makes it clear if the client signs the funding form then they want the policy. It also confirms the cost of the policy if the claim is an RTA / Work Accident or Slip/Trip Accident.
With other claim types there should be a warning paragraph which confirms that we will need to obtain a quote for the policy if they chose to obtain one.

9. Brokers who send in the signed paperwork
Where Brokers have a pack of our initial documents we need to make sure they are aware of the amended document and ensure they understand the reasons why we are now suggesting ATE cover be put in place;
Check incoming client documents to ensure old BCR style letters have not been sent in error. Bear in mind any claims opened before the ACTIVATION date ( date we have gone live with the new ATE policy) will still have the BCR documentation

10. Part B : Acknowledge CFA / Return of Papers
When initial papers ( CFA / funding docs ) are returned they must be logged using the Linked Action : Acknowledge CFA/ Return of Papers. This will
Request the CFA date
Confirm receipt of the signed funding docs / authorities which will populate the Recommendation Screen
Will ask you to confirm the ATE selection made by the client.
Will direct you to the ATE screen to issue a policy if the client has selected a policy with F & L Legal Limited.

11. Part C : THE ATE SCREEN – ISSUING A POLICY
This only applies to those claims where the client has selected an F & L Policy..
You should use the button – “ISSUE POLICY”

12. What happens when I issue a policy?
The system will check whether the CFA date has been entered. If not – the policy will not be issued.
The system will check the CFA date is within 14 days. If it is not – the policy will not be issued and you will be asked to make a specific policy request.
The system will also check that the client’s choice of F & L Insurance has been logged during the acknowledgement CFA linked action.
If the above criteria is met then a policy
schedule will be created. You must check the
contents are correct.
The system will record that a policy has been issued .

13. Sending the Schedule / letter acknowledging papers
Once the “Issue Policy” button has been activated and either a policy has been issued or declined you will have the option of sending the letter to the client acknowledging the return of the CFA and papers and enclosing the schedule.
If a policy was issued you should check the following ;
The letter should remind the client of the right to cancel within 90 days and will confirm the premium cost;
The Demands/Needs Statement, Key Facts and Policy
Terms and Conditions should be produced.;
You should also make sure you attach a copy of the policy schedule to this letter.

14. Making a bespoke request
WHEN?
Where the CFA date exceeds 14 days;
Where the claim is not an RTA/Work/Public Liability
Where you are looking for cover for an existing claim at the point of issue.
In the above circumstances a bespoke request form can be issued from the ATE screen.
Simply select “Bespoke Request” . The form should be completed on-line and it will then be ed directly to

15. Logging an ATE policy
Where a Policy is obtained at a later date ( not within the 14 days of the CFA) receipt of the policy should be logged using the Incoming Post Log – “After the Event Insurance Policy Obtained”
This will :
Ask you to update the ATE Insurer screen with full details;
Ask for confirmation of the Insurance Premium;
Ask for the Policy Date
Places the ATE Policy Obtained Linked Action onto the Task List.

16. ATE Policy Obtained – Linked Action
This will generate a letter to the client to advise them that a policy has been obtained.
If this is an F&L policy then the associated documentation will be attached.
This should not be run without using the incoming post log first.
If F&L is the chosen insurer you should be asked to claim details and an template will be automated.
Admin must keep a monthly log of policies issued.
If you fail to use the incoming post log the system may not note the policy details and it may not remind you to make the deduction at the end from the client’s monies.

17. CANCELLING THE POLICY
The F & L Policy can be cancelled from the ATE screen.
You will be asked to confirm the reason for the cancellation and will have the option of :
No instruction from client
Poor prospects of success
Injury less than £1000
BTE exists
Defendant uninsured
Defendant Untraced
Client instruction to cancel within 90 days
It is for you as the fee earner to cancel the policy is the claim no longer meets the requirements as set out in the policy terms and conditions.
Example – prospects fall below 51% and the fee earner runs the matter to trial in any event. The client loses and a claim for costs is submitted to the ATE. They may opt to review the file and seeing that the policy should have been cancelled simply refuse payment. The client would then have a legitimate claim against the fee earner for negligent advice.

18. CANCEL POLICY LINKED ACTION
As well as logging the resaon for the cancellation and confirming the date of cancellation the linked action will :
Generate a letter to the client advising them of the cancellation ;
Update the system to show that there is no longer a policy of insurance in place.

19. DEDUCTING THE PREMIUM
Providng you have used the relevant linked actions and have completed the ATE screen the letter sending the settlement monies to the client should automatically include a paragraph to confirm that the premium is being deducted.
It is the fee earner’s responsibility to make sure that any premium due to the insurer is paid / deducted from the client monies.
Fee Earners should have a “Funding Folder” within Proclaim and within in place any funding docs including the Policy Schedule. A simple check of either this folder or the ATE screen will makes sure no policy is missed.

20. WHAT IF I FORGET THE DEDUCT THE PREMIUM?
The Premium is still payable and once the client has their money it is unlikely they will send the premium monies back.
Under the delegated authority agreement the firm is liable for the recovery of the premium.
The cost of the Premium would be payable from the file costs and may result in a deduction from any future fee earning bonus.
We cannot afford to forget to deduct the premium.

21. SUMMARY OF ATE CRITERIA
Prospects of success are greater than 51%
Damages are likely to exceed small claims
There is 3 months before limitation
Does not involve an Uninsured / Untraced defendant
RTA/WORK/PUBLIC Accident
Must be a valid retainer

22. IPT RATES
Insurance premium tax is set centrally by government. The rates have varied over the last few years as follows :
Pre-Nov 15 – 6%
1st Nov 15 – Oct 16 – 9.5%
1st Oct 16 – 1st June 17 – 10%
1st June 17 to date – 12%
Unfortunately for a while the HMRC had failed to issue guidance on when the increases rates were payable. That is - is it the rate at the time of the policy being issued or the rate at the time the premium is paid.
Finally HMRC issued the following guidance :
Policies issued on or after 1/6/2017 – 12%
Policies issued before 1/6/2017 and where the premiums are paid to solicitors before 31/5/2018 – 10%
Policies issued before 1/6/2017 and have premiums paid to solicitors on or after 1/6/2018 – 12%

23. PROCLAIM
This is an ongoing project and it will continue to be improved especially in relation to ATE.
Please report any issues by to

24. THE END