Teamwork is something most of us learn at school; whether it be as part of a sports team, orchestra or academic club.
The skills we learn as children travel with us throughout the years, and are continually built upon what we learn along the way.
When it comes to our jobs, many of us have to work as part of a team in order to increase efficiency. This can be particularly helpful if you are absent due to illness or annual leave.
At Cycle Law Scotland we have always worked as a team. If a client calls and the solicitor dealing with the day to day running of their claim is not available, you can be sure that someone else within the team can answer your questions and assist.
It is therefore difficult to comprehend the complete lack of teamwork shown by many insurers.
Day in, day out we are met with excuses as to why our letters, emails and calls have gone unanswered, the handler is off sick, on holiday, it has been transferred to another team. You name it, we have probably heard the excuse.
However, the most shocking was in the case of Adam Ridley. His claim was intimated to the insurers and liability admitted within a matter of weeks. However, we then stopped receiving any communication. Emails, calls and letters went unanswered. In June 2016, we were told the original claims handler had retired and someone else would be taking over. Yet again all correspondence went unanswered.
A proposal to settle Adam’s claim was sent on 16th September but the insurers never responded to us. As a result, we were left with no option but to raise a Court action against them. It was at this point we received a letter dated 10th February 2017 explaining a new handler had been assigned following the retirement of the original claims handler some seven months previous!
Raising Court actions is something that we are used to doing and certainly not something we shy away from. However, it can be difficult to explain to clients that the only reason for doing this is a complete lack of communication from the insurers.
There appears to be a fundamental flaw in the system if only one person is equipped to deal with any one case.
We are human after all and not available to work 365 days of the year!