The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has introduced a new code for the insurance industry which will stop companies making unsolicited calls to the victim of an accident in hospital or at their home.
The new voluntary code will cover insurance companies who sign up to it but will not put a stop to cold-calling to offer an early settlement to a case, known as ‘third party capture’. This is commonly used when an insurer’s policyholder is at fault in a car accident and is also used for accidents at work and in public liability claims where there is personal injury involved.
Muiris Lyons, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers said it was difficult for most claimants to know whether or not a settlement offer was fair. He said: “The insurance industry is now euphemistically calling this ‘third party assistance’, but what many people won’t realise or remember, often because they are shocked and vulnerable at the time, is that insurers’ primary duty is to their shareholders, not the injured person. This obviously puts them in direct conflict with the victim.”
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