Employers Liability Claims / Injury to Employees
In April, 1999, important changes took place in the way personal injury claims are processed. Please note that these have not been introduced by underwriters but by Lord Woolf (and are referred to as Woolf reforms); they are the Law. Failure to comply with them will lead to fines being imposed by the courts and these costs will be passed to you if you have not complied with the Woolf Protocol.

What you must do on receipt of a letter of claim.
A letter of claim must be acknowledged by the underwriter, or their representatives, within 21 days of the letter of claim date. It is therefore imperative that any letter of claim received in your office is passed to Noyce Insurance Solutions immediately by fax and post.

Liability must be accepted or denied by underwriters within three months, inclusive of the 21 days given to respond to the letter of claim.

How does that affect me?
Documents have to be declared — these vary depending upoin the size and type of claim. Insurers will know what these documents are and you must provide copies of these when they are requested.

You are required by Law to sign a document entitled Disclosure Statement. This states that you have looked for all documents. If some cannot be found, reasons for their absence must be given. This document must be signed by a senior employee and it would be sensible to allocate this responsibility to one person. The following are examples of the documents likely to be needed:

• Report of all claims/incidents likely to give rise to a claim IMMEDIATELY
• Retain all evidence on any incidents:
  - Incident/Near miss report forms
  - Accident Book entry
  - First Aider’s report
  - Safety Officer report
  - Heath & Safety Executive documentation
  - Photographs and / or sketch plans
  - Security Videos
  - Pass on all third party correspondence to us immediately and unanswered

Please click Employers Liability Claim Form to download the document, then print, complete and return the form to Noyce Insurance Solutions.

Public Liability Claims - Injury to Third Parties / damage to their Property

As with Employers Liability claims, the Woolf reforms have had a noticeable impact on Public Liability claims. It is essential that any letter of claim received is passed to immediately Noyce Insurance Solutions as insurers have only 21 days to respond on the Policyholder's behalf.

It is not always easy to recall incidents 2 or 3 years down the line - it is therefore good practice and sometimes a condition of the policy to keep accurate reports and records of all incidents likely to give rise to a claim.

Do not admit liability to anyone.

Please click Public Liability Claim Form (Microsoft Word format) to download the document, then print, complete and return the form to Noyce Insurance Solutions.