Why Should I Have More Than Minimum Insurance Coverage?
Every state requires all drivers to carry auto insurance. And Obamacare now requires everyone to have health insurance. Facing these laws, many people’s first thought is to get the absolute minimum insurance required, in order to save money. While this may seem like the most fiscally responsible move in the short term, not having more than the minimum insurance coverage could end up costing you later. Covering More Than Your Car While terminology and penalties may vary, every state has laws requiring a minimum amount of auto insurance coverage. And of the many different types of coverage available, many of us choose the minimum. But basic collision coverage may only cover that — collisions — paying just the cost to cover the damage to your vehicle in a car …
Garda IT system suspended over insurance errors – Irish Independent
Irish IndependentGarda IT system suspended over insurance errorsIrish IndependentA handwritten note, which was recorded by a senior official in the Department of Transport, appears to blame motor insurance companies for failing to update the database properly. It said that there was an issue "with insurance companies not notify …Gardaí drop vehicle insurance database after errorsIrish Examinerall 5 news articles »
Originalism All the Way Down?
How should the Constitution be interpreted? What context should be considered, if at all? And if the Constitution should be interpreted as it was originally conceived, how does one go about determining what the Founders meant? In a review of Originalism and the Good Constitution by John O. McGinnis and Michael B. Rappaport*, Kurt T. Lash at the University of Illinois College of Law examines the rather complicated matter, highlighting the strengths and flaws in their argument. Lash defines originalism in the context of the review as a “reformist movement in contemporary American constitutional law” whose proponents “reject modern interpretive theories such as ‘living constitutionalism’ and call for the restoration of the foundational understanding of the text.” The next question, of course, is how one goes …
Fatal Mission Bay Crash
Fatal Mission Bay Crash A crash in Mission Bay took the life of one person on Monday night. According to NBC San Diego Channel Seven News, the one-car wreck happened at about 8:30 p.m. on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and Ingraham Street. For currently unknown reasons, the Toyota sedan flipped off of the overpass and landed on its roof. At this time, the identity of the driver hasn’t been released. The only witnesses to the wreck were two law enforcement officers who happened to be on the scene assisting another motorist. They were able to partially capture the wreck on body cameras, but the footage hasn’t been released. Investigators with the San Diego Police Department are still trying to piece together what happened in this fatal wreck…
Auto insurers strike it rich with No Fault ‘price controls’
$550 million profit windfall for auto insurance companies could increase to $1.2 billion per year after expiration of SB 248’s two-year moratorium on price increases For an industry that’s so deathly averse to price controls being imposed on what it charges auto insurance consumers, the auto insurance industry is plenty gung-ho when it comes to imposing price controls on what doctors and hospitals can charge for treating Michigan car crash victims. Why? Because price controls on doctors and hospitals will make Michigan’s auto insurance industry rich. Under the price controls proposed in the House Insurance Committee’s version of the Senate No Fault plan, Senate Bill 248, the auto insurance industry will: Pocket approximately $550 million in savings (read: profits) for each of the next two …
Costs Budgeting – Time for change
Having at first hand experienced the heated battle of CCMCs, in which costs draftsmen and (usually) junior Counsel joust in front of a Master on the level of costs incurred thus far and those yet to come, it seems that change might be in the air. Lord Justice Jackson is preparing a speech / paper on costs budgeting, to be finalised by mid-May. He is looking, amongst other matters, at the circumstances in which the Court should decline to carry out costs budgeting (because of a concern at the delays being caused to listing generally by the new regime) and at whether there should be some sort of provisional costs budgeting exercise on paper.You will no doubt remember Ian Miller’s prediction on this very ‘…
Fee increase to take place next Monday
A dramatic hike in court fees is to take place on Monday 9th March 2015. The Law Society has published the following table (see below) of the new court fees suggesting solicitors consider issuing cases this week. Employment Tribunal fees were increased in July 2013 and the effect is thought to have been to reduce the number of tribunal claims substantially. It remains to be seen whether the increase of court fees will have the same effect. The move will inevitably raise questions as to whether access to justice is being made more difficult. It may also sharpen the debate about whether our legal system should be funded by society as a whole or simply by its users: is the civil justice system simply about settling disputes between individuals…
Laya undercuts rivals with new corporate health insurance plan – Irish Independent
Irish IndependentLaya undercuts rivals with new corporate health insurance planIrish IndependentRival health insurers will be forced to respond to the move, according to a leading health insurance expert. It comes after State-owned VHI finally got provisional approval from the Central Bank to go out into the market and raise its own funds …
New 20mph traffic zones to be trialled in London
Transport for London has announced plans to trial new 20 mph zones in London in an effort to reduce accidents and casualties on London’s streets. The pilot is to start with Commercial Street in Tower Hamlets in April, but is expected to be widened to areas including the A10, the “Shoreditch Triangle”, with TfL also looking at Upper Street and Holloway Road, Westminster Bridge, Stamford Street and Southwark Street, Brixton Town Centre, Clapham High Street, Earls Court Road, Kings Cross Road and Farringdon Road, and Camden Street. These plans are part of the Mayors Road Safety strategy to lower deaths and serious injuries on London’s roads by 40{9c067c25ed205f086ce6001901eb13dfadc688a7aefab9f64e0c55b8c5a55872}. In a study published in the British Medical Journal, the introduction of a 20 mph zones in London …
No ATE = Lower Solicitor Fees
I’m doing a bit of algebra today. It is now accepted practice that solicitors up and down the country are charging clients 25{9c067c25ed205f086ce6001901eb13dfadc688a7aefab9f64e0c55b8c5a55872} or thereabouts of their damages as a success fee if they win their case. Since April 2013, it has also been the norm for defendant insurers to fire off Part 36 offers left, right and centre in order to sidestep Qualified One Way Costs Shifting (QOWCS). Nothing new there then. Well there is. You see, prior to the Jackson reforms, solicitors got their success fees from the defendant and they were of course calculated by reference to costs and risk. Now however, the fees come from the client so it is very relevant how much compensation they get. The more they get, the more money …
Mesothelioma Patients Often Deal With Blood Clots – MesotheliomaHelp.org (blog)
Mesothelioma Patients Often Deal With Blood ClotsMesotheliomaHelp.org (blog)Blood clots are one side effect mesothelioma patients must deal with. Patients with cancers that occur in the lungs and abdomen, such as mesothelioma, are at greater risk of developing blood clots. Although cancers that have spread from their original …
Antonio Caliendo and Barnaby Holdings LLC v Mishcon de Reya (2014)
We all remember the mad “pre-Jackson” rush in February and March 2013. Everyone was desperately trying to buy ATE insurance before 1 April 2013 to cover their older cases, and at the same time finalise CFAs on all their latest cases. It was a short period of pandemonium and it was perhaps almost inevitable that there were going to be a few cases where the defendant was not notified of these “additional liabilities” (the premium and the success fee) within the necessary seven days/when the defendant was first contacted. As costs on this era of cases are now beginning to be recovered, these occasional lapses are beginning to surface, but there has been a very helpful ruling which it is worth letting you know about below. We hope…