Our aim is ensuring a fair outcome
Economic conditions affect the insurance industry in two key ways: an increasingly price-sensitive market creating competition between insurance companies and the volume and value of claims can increase as people pursue claims against their insurance companies which they may not otherwise have done in better financial times. It is imperative that insurers and their policyholders obtain the best legal advice and representation to ensure that claims spend is controlled and lessons are learned from the experience. Our team’s principle profile is in defending claims and advising on policy cover primarily on behalf of insurance companies. However, we also have a wealth of experience in handling recovery actions on behalf of insurers.
Our Insurance lawyers are skilled and experienced in handling the full range of insurance related claims and disputes through all of our courts from the lower value District Judges Court to the High Court. We work closely with excellent suppliers from barristers to medical and accountancy experts and consulting engineers to ensure that our clients are provided with first class advice and tactical direction. We have a number of trained mediators in our team which allows us to offer clients an alternative means of resolving disputes. In addition, our lawyers have been trained in advanced advocacy skills which are regularly put into practice in a court setting.
What we do
- Employers' liability claims advice
Insurance companies employ our team to defend employers’ liability claims involving injuries resulting from accidents in the work place. These include industrial disease, manual handling claims, noise induced deafness, repetitive strain injuries and stress at work claims. Our approach is to fully familiarise ourselves with the workplace environment so as to have a complete understanding of the processes, training and risk assessments applicable to claimants’ allegations. We advise clients on the implications of the myriad Rules and Regulations surrounding the employer/employee relationship. We work closely with employers to review and improve their health and safety arrangements and regularly provide training to health and safety and environmental managers.
- Public liability claims & defensibility investigation services
We are regularly instructed by insurance companies and public bodies to defend public liability claims. We provide a claims investigation service and are in a position to ensure that all appropriate evidence (including photographs and statements) is gathered at an early stage so as to allow decisions on liability to be taken as quickly as possible and for the case to be disposed of cost effectively.
- Road traffic accident claims
Our team defends road traffic claims receiving repeat instructions from insurance companies and from the Motor Insurer’s Bureau having a recognised expertise in handling claims involving the Motor Insurer’s Bureau Agreements. Increasingly, our team is involved in defending credit hire claims. Our experience extends through the full range of values from minor impact soft tissue injury cases to catastrophic cases involving injuries of the utmost severity.
- Product liability litigation
We have recognised expertise in handling claims arising from the use of allegedly defective products and receive instructions directly from manufacturers in various sectors and insurance companies alike.
- Fraudulant claims defensibility
We have witnessed considerable growth in the volume of fraudulent claims. Our clients are ever mindful of suspicious/exaggerated claims and we regularly advise and represent them in defending such cases. In conjunction with the Belfast Insurance Institute, we lecture insurance professionals on fraudulent claims and specifically on early identification of fraud indicators and on the evidence required to challenge these cases in court.
- Health & Safety Investigations/Prosecutions.
With an ever increasing volume of health and safety legislation being enacted, not least the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2008, coupled with a proactive Health and Safety Executive (HSE), this has become an area of considerable concern to insurers and employer organisations alike. We have extensive experience in defending clients in both the Magistrates Courts and the Crown Courts in connection with prosecutions arising from injuries and indeed fatality in the workplace. We represent companies and their officers at interviews under PACE conditions during the course of investigations by the HSE. We are always mindful not just of the financial implications that such investigations have on companies but also of the potential for adverse publicity which may accompany a conviction.
- Travel law- Travel Agent & Tour Operator
Tughans is one of the few law firms in Northern Ireland with expertise in defending holiday claims arising under the package tour regulations. We act for travel agents and tour operators. Our experienced team seeks to achieve favourable and cost effective resolutions to claims and is always cognisant of the particular nuances of holiday claims, such as local standards defences.
Service
Client care is at the heart of our service. By focusing on our service levels, Tughans’ insurance team is proud of its standing as an acknowledged leader in this field. We recognise that achieving an effective result in relation to individual claims is only part of our job. Our team is acutely aware of our role in developing and maintaining the relationships between insurance company, broker, customer and lawyer. The team is led by Kathy McGillie.
Summary
Our team is conscious of the challenges facing the insurance sector and are keen to promote our service, not just in terms of achieving excellent results but by adding value to our clients’ businesses, for example, in the provision of training. We consider ourselves to be innovative in terms of our solutions driven service and work in conjunction with our clients to ensure that the optimum level of service is maintained.
“What sets Tughans apart is the quality of service”.
(Chambers)
“Clients praise the teams’ direct method of counsel and strength in representing leading insurance institutions”
(Chambers)