Litigation and Claims Flashcards
What is litigation?
Involves a civil action brought before the court
When do you have the right to sue?
When your contractual or tort rights have been violated
Tortuously liable examples
Liable to a third party eg: Personal injury, environmental, employee liability, product liability.
Why do insurers settle claims (4)
Unexpected payouts
Expensive to fight
Don’t want to create precedent
Public image
What is the premise of tort law?
An individual has the right not to suffer an injury as a consequence of another action. It can be physical, economic, psychological or reputational
What is the goal of a tort law suit?
Compensate you as well as money can to put you back in the same position as you were as if the event never happened
Why is the tort system good?
Victims are compensated, offenders and held accountable
Precedent
A decision that has been made in the past that is used to set the standard for future cases
What is president an application/interpretation of?
A statute
How can a precedent be overturned?
by the high court or court of appeal
What can a plaintiff do if they are successful in court (3)?
- Enforce contract
- Get an injunction
- Awarded compensation
What is a mandatory injunction?
Force somebody to do something / complete contract
Prohibitory injunction
Prevents somebody from doing something
Super prohibitory injunction
Prevents anybody from talking about the case and you cant report about the case
What types of damages can you get and for what?
Special damages: lost income or bills
General damages: Pain and suffering
What do PIAB use to price claims
Book of quantum
Litigiousness
Increased likely hood of engaging in a lawsuit
Deep pocket theory
Insurers have deep pockets and people don’t feel as guilty in suing them encouraging more claims
What are the 4 barriers of kritslers paper?
Recognition, Attribution, confrontation, litigation
Recognition
Recognising that your rights have been violated
Attribution
Who’s fault is it or was it a normal part of life? This has changed in recent years, people are more likely to attribute blame to somebody else.
Confrontation/greviance
This involves actually laying e blam on somebody else
Claim
Decide to make a claim or not
What influences an insurance company to settle a claim (3)
Size
Reputation
Precedent
What is suing
A threat to litigation
Why is suing more common?
People are more willing to settle
What are the consequences of more people suing
Premiums increase
Harder for businesses to operate
