IRLA panel claims long term claims looking stable

UK legacy and long-tail claims seem stable at the moment, according to a panel discussion at the Insurance and Reinsurance Legacy Association (IRLA) congress in Brighton, England.

The panel agreed that there seemed to be as downward trend in the number of legacy claims out there in recent years - but that there were still a large number of outstanding claims out there.

“There’s a lot of work still to do,” John Baker, claims advisory at PWC and a member of the panel, said. “We need to put a lot more effort into data gathering at an early stage especially.”

The panel stressed that management needed to realise that data collection and storage could be a problem, especially when legacy systems were used. For example, the UK’s Revenue and Customs agency still uses microfiche machines to access records, which was leading to accessibility problems due to the fact that microfiche machines are no longer used.

The panel also said that at present there was a relative level of stability in areas like asbestos claims management, with no major legal challenges to any of the recent asbestos claims decisions. However, it was also pointed out that there seemed to be a faster rate of claims settlement in Scotland when compared to England.

Looking at future developments the panel pointed to changes in data analytics, with advances in technology leading to speedier analysis of data trends. In addition the panel stressed that advances in medical technology were leading to people being diagnosed earlier with ailments - to the point where two thirds of claims were now coming in from living claimants.