Credit hire claims feature heavily in road traffic litigation in Northern Ireland.
Traditionally, it was a market whereby the know your opponent strategy was not difficult to apply, given the limited number of companies. However, the past two years has seen a surge of new companies entering the market, requiring insurers to review and implement bespoke strategies.
In combination with the emergence of new companies, vehicles have become more expensive and time consuming to repair and polictical issues such as Brexit have impacted the availabily of vehicle parts, resulting in extended hire periods.
The credit hire sphere is never far from controversy. However, in NI, there is an added complication in that AMCs are not regulated.
DWF (NI) held a forum for industry representatives where the issue was discussed at length.Soon after the forum, the ABI liaised with the Department of Finance in order to seek that the FCA’s remit on regulating Claims Management Companies is extended to cover Northern Ireland. This would be a welcome change and afford better protection for the consumer.
DWF Scotland has experience in engaging with key stakeholders to argue for change in this area. Historically AMCs were not regulated in Scotland. The DWF team in Scotland worked closely with FOIL, the ABI and the Scottish Government to make the case for regulation in Scotland. From 1 April 2019 AMCs have been regulated in Scotland.
Should you require any further information in respect of the work done by DWF (NI) in respect of tacking the exponential growth of AMCs, please reach out to Ciara Liddy.
