Archive for the 'UK National Newspapers' Category

14
Feb
11

Trade press review: Fire lit under Jackson; would a Quora law firm be better than a twitter one?

By Ralph Savage Leave a Comment
Categories: Insurance & Reinsurance, Legal, Social Media and UK National Newspapers
Tags: , , , , , ,

It is becoming increasingly difficult to tell if media coverage of the debate between claimant and defendant sides in personal injury is having any influence on government policy. However in January, it appeared that good old fashioned case law may have trumped Whitehall’s timetable for civil justice reform anyway.

Despite the myriad consultations and decrees from the Ministry of Justice, one case may have had the power to accelerate Lord Justice Jackson’s civil justice reforms quicker than anyone could have imagined.

January was awash with comment and debate on the implications of the judgement in MGN v United Kingdom (Case No. 39401/04). Legal Week produced an excellent roundup of the media coverage on the issue, which has certainly got tongues wagging over the future of success fees and CFAs.

The matter of access to justice is rarely away from the headlines these days and the issue does find itself the subject of news copy in some odd places. For example, the Mirror seems to be posing its journalists as Raymond Chandler-esque private detectives; it appears they’re keen to lay it on thick with whatever material they can.

January’s news was also replete with discussion about how motor insurers can justify rising premiums amidst a climate in which every other cost for motorists is heading north too. It’s not difficult to understand the reason this was such a hot topic; Parliament’s Transport Select Committee has been hearing presentations from interested parties on the issue so it’s been straight-talking time.

To offer a little context, rates across personal and commercial motor have generally been on the rise for more than a year and understandably many insurers are keen to present ways in which they might conceivably keep premiums down. For example, insurer Swiftcover added its name to proposals by the Association of British Insurers for broader access to the DVLA database, regarded as one of the most effective means of cutting out fraud at point of sale. Another company, Esure, pointed out some salient concerns it has about rather worrying claims inflation statistics that are specific to one postcode synonymous with the motoring world
And finally, returning to the world of social networking, some smart people at personal injury referral network Loyalty Law have launched what on the surface appears to be the country’s first ever Twitter law firm. Obviously there’s a little more behind it but in essence, users can ask simple ‘what if?’ questions which are answered by a panel of law firms.
It would be my hunch that Quora would be a better network for this type of approach, but we’ll have to wait and see if it gains enough traction with everyday users first.

This article was written by freelance business journalist and PR consultant Ralph Savage.

25
Nov
10

Last year’s news…1st Anniversary blog post!!

By Ralph Savage 1 Comment
Categories: Insurance & Reinsurance, Investment, Online content, Personal Finance and UK National Newspapers
Tags: , , , , , , ,

As it’s BMR’s 1st anniversary this month, it seems only right to take a look back twelve months to see what was happening way back then.

Now as you may recall, a certain golfer had this time last year been exposed as something of a womaniser,  and it was this very topic topic which inspired BMR’s first post, after a news piece in the FT and the paper’s editorial had been devoted to the world number 1′s indescretions. 

Meanwhile, Dubai’s Debt Crisis broke the hearts of palm island shaped property speculators everywhere as the Emirate announced it would delay payment on its $23.8bn debt pile. One year on, and with the Irish sovereign crisis swallowing up all of this week’s airtime it’s helpful that newsdesks keep a calendar handy for these types of anniversary stories.

It seems difficult to imagine Gordon Brown was ever Prime Minister of this country but for the insurance industry and property owners at least Number 10 was keeping the topic of flooding in cumbria right at the top of the parliamentary agenda. Indeed, there has been no shortage of ‘one year on…’ coverage in the insurance trade media regarding the deluge at Cockermouth so I won’t add to the flow (Pun, oops, oh well).

There was no shortage of activity from City institutions either and one right at the core, The London Stock Exchange, was reporting some fairly underwhelming results and a drop in earnings of £50m in its Q3 figures. However this figure paled in comparison to Japanese investment bank Nomura’s £175m bang on the head from the FSA for a catalogue of serious failings in its risk management systems.

It took some time to figure out just what Google wanted me to ask it in order to get the news from this time last year – simply typing in the exact date did the trick in the end – but publishers beware; only the Daily Mail and Liverpool Echo brought back useful results on the search engine, saying ‘news from 25th November 2009′…

(BMR originally posted on blogger in Nov 2009, but moved to wordpress cos it looks nicer).

16
Nov
10

Media roundup – legal aid cuts and Jackson round 2

By Ralph Savage 1 Comment
Categories: Legal and UK National Newspapers
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Justice Minister Kenneth Clarke went straight to the top of the news bulletins yesterday afternoon, as the government unveiled proposals to cut £350m from legal aid budgets and a second consultation into the Jackson report.  

It seems the Legal Action Group’s survey late last week fell on deaf ears and free legal advice is living on borrowed time. Kenneth Clarke delivered his address to the commons yesterday and the BBC has produced a useful overview of the announcement, although the mainstream media’s focus is primarily on the legal aid portion of the MOJ’s plan. Perhaps the most interesting angle comes from the Telegraph, which given its propensity to tackle MPs’ expenses claims, points out that they’ll no longer be able to get help defending themselves.

Radio 4 spent the vast majority of its air time re-quoting Law Society CEO Des Hudson’s question to Mr Clarke, “what if you are not rich or mighty? How will you get access to justice?” he said.

The Minister’s response was to point out what seems like an opportunity for the private sector and presumably legal expenses insurers. Mr Clarke answered that no-win-no-fee will apply in certain circumstances to those areas abandoned by civil legal aid under the proposals, namely divorce; clinical negligence and certain types of employment claims.

On the second issue of costs in civil litigation, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers was quick to get its point of view across. The lion’s share of coverage from the insurance trade press revolves around Clarke’s fellow justice minister Jonathan Djanogly and his statement on costs recoverability. Insurance Times explains the key proposal to abolish recoverability on CFAs with interested parties invited to get their ten cents worth to the MOJ no later than Valentine’s Day 2011.

05
Nov
10

October 2010 – personal injury’s biggest month ever

By Ralph Savage Leave a Comment
Categories: Insurance & Reinsurance, Legal, Online content and UK National Newspapers
Tags: , , , , , ,

Web traffic and media coverage concerning personal injury have hit almost unprecedented levels as Lord Young’s government commissioned report into Health & Safety keeps the circus going.

But this wasn’t the only story of substance affecting solicitors during October.

The month opened with a bang as the Legal Services Board published proposals for improving the regulation of referral fees; Meanwhile, the Financial Times saw fit to include the crackdown on them as part of its speculative coverage of the government spending review.

Of course, the LSB’s announcement of a 12 week consultation was in direct opposition to Lord Justice Jackson’s recommendations and those which were shortly to be outlined at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

Encouraged by the debate, solicitors groups joined the protests against Whitehall’s stance which was becoming the worst kept secret in modern business history.

So finally, on 15 October Lord Young’s report ‘Common Sense, Common Safety’ was published, to the general approval of the civil defendant community and Justice Minister Ken Clarke gave a ringing endorsement of contingent fee proposals in a BBC interview on October 26.

The sheer weight of opinion generated on the personal injury claims issue is impressive and it’s obvious there’s going to be more to come. However, no news roundup would be complete without some like this from our dear old Daily Mail, as ever telling it like it is.

Now I said that this wasn’t the only tale of note during October and this wasn’t a lie. Legal professionals of all shapes and sizes now have their own Ombudsman to fear/loathe/apply for work at (delete as appropriate) with the body’s new chief executive Adam Sampson anticipating around 20 000 actionable complaints every year. I wish him all the best in amalgamating the complaints procedures of eight professional bodies into one.

17
Sep
10

Guardian v Times paywall battle moves onto business information turf

By Ralph Savage Leave a Comment
Categories: Legal, Online content and UK National Newspapers
Tags: , , , , , , ,

I’m a little belated with this post. Nevertheless it’s an important topic vis a vis paid versus free content.

Guardian beefs up law section with LexisNexis info deal – Press Gazette, points out that UK National newspaper the Guardian is taking on established rival the Times with a free online legal reports service in partnership with LexisNexis.

The Guardian is well-known for its resolute stance against paid for content online while the Times’ (and News International papers’) approach is becoming more and more aggressive towards generating income from subscriptions.

It’s interesting that business information like legal reports could end up being the battle ground for such a price war. The Times is still an established home for law reports, and lawyers like nothing more than to be considered for its flagship ‘lawyer of the week’ column. However, as a niche financial and business journalist, I subscribe only to publications that it’s essential for me to read and as such the Guardian’s new offer is an enticing prospect for anyone with a focus on legal services.

Until the internet becomes less of a minefield, with millions of publishers and blogs – like the very one you are reading – battling for your attention, a product that charges for its content has to rise head and shoulders above the rest. The Times thinks Rupert Everett will sell that to us with its new online paid content ad campaign – indeed £1 for a month’s subscription is a bargain, but if the Guardian’s legal content like this remains free at the point of delivery and it is of sufficient quality to justify the fanfare, I’ll be taking the cheaper option more often than not.

I think I’m probably just sick of entering usernames and passwords.

08
Sep
10

Insurance sector PR spokespeople; Ready, aim, fire!

By Ralph Savage Leave a Comment
Categories: Insurance & Reinsurance, Public Relations and UK National Newspapers
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Like deserters facing a firing squad, the insurance industry’s PR spokespeople took it like brave soldiers in today’s Daily Mail. 

The story, Insurers hike flood victims\’ premiums by 500% and make them pay first £6,000 of claim | Mail Online, points out how flood victims have seen their renewal premium and excesses go up by astronomical figures and asks why oh why.

Of course the problem is that because everyone’s paved over their front gardens and the government won’t stump up the cash for some more sandbags so every year thousands of people suffer enormously as torrents of water rush into their lounge and destroy the place.

This is a lose lose situation for the insurance industry PR machine but it’s very interesting to see what tactic they adopt in meeting their maker. They can’t blame the government, because surely that can’t justify slapping on an extortionate £6000 deductible at renewal, and they can’t tell us about all the grateful homeowners who’se properties they did save from destruction because well, that would result in a headline like ‘insurer pays claim and fixes house’.

However, perhaps knowing the battle can never be won, ‘Honest’ Adrian Webb, of Esure gives it to us straight and is almost praised by the reporter for doing so;  ”We are not an insurer for flood-risk postcodes. We have lobbied the government for nearly eight years to improve flood defences,” he says. “We cover flooding in areas where it is a genuine accident, not an accident waiting to happen because of nearby undefended water sources. Insurers do not cause floods, neither do they build flood defences.”

31
Aug
10

Good cop bad cop with Admiral after H1 results

By Ralph Savage Leave a Comment
Categories: Insurance & Reinsurance, Personal Finance and UK National Newspapers
Tags: , , , , ,

There’s an interesting dichotomy to the coverage regarding insurance company Admiral’s first half results. The national media focuses in on the company’s share price alone, while the trade media puts the spotlight onto its declaration that it isn’t like other motor insurers and has no problem with bodily injury claims inflation.

The Guardian’s Market Forces Blog points the story out with a cheerful headline that Admiral’s staff are likely to cash in after a profit boost; Admiral staff cash in after profit boost, as FTSE edges higher | Business | guardian.co.uk.

However, it reports that analyst recommendations placed Admiral’s stock on the sell list straight away. Two analysts, Charles Coyne and Eamonn Flanaghan attached for sale signs to this particular share which they say is ‘materially overvalued’. It’s hard to disagree when the price is so very much in excess of the company’s net asset value.

The trade media however focuses in on the reason perhaps that Admiral is able to command such loyalty from its shareholders and a factor that may well inform that sky-high equity.

Amidst spiraling claims, most of the UK motor insurance sector can’t bring in money any quicker than it goes out of the back door, so to hear a company confidently reporting that it has seen no ‘unusual trends in bodily injury or damage claims’ is rather refreshing.   

Could it be down to good underwriting in the first instance? Well, Admiral’s quota share arrangement means it carries less liabilities on its own balance sheet than many rivals in favour of having the risk spread amongst a group of reinsurers – see one example here – and that means the consequent claims exposure is also shared. However, such arrangements exist to secure a profit on underwriting and as such there is no more or less demand upon Admiral’s underwriters than there would be for those at Royal Bank of Scotland Insurance, Aviva or RSA.

Admiral has enjoyed a purple patch for some time now and if the analysts’ story is to be believed, that could be about to end. Some credit should be extended to an insurance company that manages its portfolio well though. Motor insurance is a great leveller in financial services and those who make a margin in it should get a pat on the back from their investors.

17
Aug
10

No win-no fee advertising – a tough one to call

By Ralph Savage Leave a Comment
Categories: Insurance & Reinsurance, Legal and UK National Newspapers
Tags: , , , , ,

Neil Rose’s latest column in the Guardian illustrates the difficulty facing policymakers in curtailing the negative consequences of a system that is unpopular with the public while simultaneously being one of the only ways to fulfill our basic right of access to justice.

The proposals to ban ‘no-win-no-fee’ advertising are juxtaposed with Rose’s assessment of the bigger picture – something often lacking in media reportage. His point that claims management companies – those felt largely responsible for the advertising campaigns in question – are simply filling a gap left vacant by solicitors who would probably add this marketing cost into their own if it were up to them.

This fact then leads to issues of restrictions in trade and a further quandary for policymakers. Changes to the rules on who can own a law firm will be introduced next year under the Legal Services Act, with CMCs widely expected to be circling the very law firms on whose behalf they currently advertise. with £40m of revenue made from NWNF advertising each year, Rose asks whether David Cameron can comfortably remove this particular rug from under the feet of the very people for whom he used to work?

28
Apr
10

Sir Clive Sinclair – beauty and the geek

By John Charlton 1 Comment
Categories: Insurance & Reinsurance, TV Shows and UK National Newspapers
Tags: , , , , ,

Sir Clive Sinclair –  what a card he is.

I dealt with Sir Clive (then plain Clive) and his company Sinclair Research in the mid-1980s while toiling in the computer – as it was then called – press. They were heady days too. The British home computing boom was in full swing and barely a week passed without the launch of another home computer which gave the impression that the UK was a world leader in microcomputers.

This mirage vanished once IBM launched its first personal computer running an operating system developed by a Mr W Gates and Mr P Allen. Still, before those two spoilsports came along, Clive was pretty much the poster boy of the computer industry.

Not a conventionally handsome man, it nevertheless became clear that Clive had something of a penchant for the ladies, especially young and pretty ones. There was no shortage of attractive young women at a Sinclair Research press event.

Clive also always made sure members of the press were given one of his computers to take away. I took a Sinclair QL, which stood for Quantum Leap. When I got home and turned it upside down some of the keys fell off. But hey, it was a new frontier.

He split from his wife at about the time his microcomputers began selling faster than you can say Acorn. It was the microcomputer maker headed by ex Sinclair  research boffin Chris Curry that won the BBC micro contract so coveted by Clive. This rivalry and the spirit of the times was captured nicely in a recent BBC docudrama called Micro men. If you missed it, watch it.

Anyway it appears that money and fame, and of course a mega-mind, helped Clive attract very pretty young women and he seems to be better known these days for his womanising than his products.

It was in the mid-1980s  that my then editor told me to call Clive to ask about a liaison with a brainy young beauty whose name escapes me. It was a call I didn’t want to make but nevertheless did. The great man told me to “eff off” in no uncertain terms. My admiration for him grew from that day on, and I’d say that was, in terms of an outstanding moment, a highlight of my journalistic career. After all it’s not every day a knight of the realm tells you to enjoy sex and travel.

Now I read he’s married former lap dancer Angie Bowness – a mere 36 years his junior – in a Las Vegas civil court. He met her at Stringfellows, apparently.

Well, I can’t say I’m surprised as old habits die hard. I wish the old boy well – what are 36 years between lovers in this modern age? –  and hope that he still has an invention up his sleeve to capture a few more headlines.  I doubt it though.

19
Feb
10

Council executives’ pay – publish and be bashed?

By John Charlton Leave a Comment
Categories: HR & Employment and UK National Newspapers
Tags: , , , , ,

Thanks to a Freedom of Information request from the Taxpayers’ Alliance it’s been revealed that councils have dodged a duty of giving details of all their high earners in case they get set upon by members of the public.

The TA has accused council chiefs of resorting to “emotional blackmail” and “scare-mongering”. The Government wanted councils to list the names and salaries, as well as pensions, perks and pay-offs, of everyone paid more than £50,000 a year.

Councils have since persuaded ministers that they should only have to disclose the full details of staff earning more than  £150,000 a year. Councils will only have to  list the number of staff and the job titles of those employees getting more than £50,000.

Where’s the logic in this? Do councils think it’s OK for tax payers to know the whereabouts of council fat cats in order to get deep down and personal with them in an aggressive way?

I suspect it’s because the best paid council execs live well away from potential aggressors and their off-spring do not attend crap state schools.

In any case why did the Government think £50,000 a year is big money? It’s but a fraction of what ex England soccer ball team captain John Terry pays his strumpets to keep schtum and would  barely pay the mortgage on a bolt hole in a half-decent area.

As it stands just 114 council staff, most of them chief executives, will have to disclose their pay and be named and shamed, as it were.

Also on the topic of pay, more evidence emerges of HR’s peripheral role in setting it.

David Coats, associate director of think-tank The Work Foundation has said that banks which insisted on paying huge bonuses and rewards in the aftermath of the financial crisis were risking ruining their reputation – wrong Dave they lost that in 2008 –  and employer brand. But HR had little boardroom influence in reward decisions.

“If you take the financial crisis – the approach being taken to remuneration at the top is doing nothing to remedy the reputational damage at all. HR is peddling furiously but frankly doesn’t have the clout inside organisations to make the difference that will overcome risk to reputation.”

Oh dear – HRniks had better stick to rolling out benefits packages and P45s, and steer well clear of the board room.

« Previous Entries

BMR Editors - click for latest posts

Choose Industry Sector

Blog Stats

  • 9,662 hits

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 579 other followers

Twitter – @ralphsavage

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 579 other followers