Lloyd Bolam

Regulator received a file on Quinn’s UK activities yesterday.

Irish Financial Regulator Matthew Elderfield, will not lift the ban on Quinn trading in the UK today after receiving a file on the company’s operation here yesterday, the Irish Examiner reports.
Elderfield will seek to have the insurance group placed under full-time administration due to the unresolved “solvency issues” when the case comes to the High Court on Monday.
Taoiseach (prime minister) Brian Cowen may authorise a taxpayer bailout of Quinn Insurance. He said that protecting almost 6,000 jobs in the company will be the main concern of government.

Source: www.insurancetimes.co.uk

Success for a local authority in a case determining what counts as an acceptable risk.

Langleys acted for a local authority in a claim brought on behalf of a minor. The four-year-old had been in a primary school nursery class, being pushed on a rocking horse by two other children. He fell and sustained a greenstick fracture to his collarbone and a bump to his head.

The court accepted that the injuries were consistent with such a fall. It next considered whether the teachers failed to supervise the boy while playing, and if they had breached their duty of care.

In this nursery class there were three teachers and 26 children. Guidelines require one adult for every 13 children. One of the teachers and a third of the children were outdoors, leaving two staff supervising 18 or 19 pupils.

It was claimed that the fact that neither teacher saw the accident happen was evidence of inadequate supervision. The defendant, however, said the children were constantly moving; they said they provided general supervision, which was adequate. The childen liked the rocking horse, which was important for physical development and building confidence. There had been no previous accidents.

The court said the rocking horse was a classic piece of equipment that one would expect to see in a nursery class. It considered the difficulties faced by teachers; it also said that children need to be, in a safe way, exposed to normal risks. The teachers were not static and neither were the children. It was not possible to give one-to-one supervision, and the teachers were constantly scanning the room, which was compact.

The court found that it would be a “policy of perfection” to expect teachers to monitor every child at all times. This was an accident for which no blame could attach to the school. There was experienced supervision and sometimes

things happen that are beyond prevention. On that basis, the authority successfully defended this claim, which was dismissed by the court.

The decision is a welcome one for insurers, and indicates that the courts are taking a more common sense approach. It is accepted that children should be exposed to some risks and that accidents can happen without schools being at fault. It remains to be seen how much risk the courts will allow.

Source: Caroline Elson @ www.insurancetimes.co.uk

The insurer said the new Government scheme could potentially raise some questions with regards to employer’s insurance liability in the event of a claim from an employee.

Robert Tailby, loss control specialist at Chubb Insurance Europe, explained that to make an employer’s liability claim against their employer, an employee has to prove the employer has been negligent.

In the case of the fit note, he pointed out a claim might arise if the employer failed to take sufficient account of the information on the fit note when bringing the worker back into the workplace and the person suffered harm as a result.

“However, following a good practice approach to managing absence and return to work should be sufficient to ensure that no additional harm is caused to the employee from being at work and hence that no grounds arise on which a personal injury claim could be made.

“In other words, the fit note does not create any new ‘duty of care’, but it does highlight the need for employers to ensure that all instances of actual or potential absence and return to work after sickness are properly managed,” he added.

Source: @ www.insurancetimes.co.uk