The existing framework for handling industrial deafness claims may not be up to scratch, James Dalton, head of liability for the Association of British Insurers, has said.
Mr Dalton added: “These claims usually involve multiple defendants and therefore multiple insurers. We need to seriously explore if the existing Claims Portal can be adapted to deal with multi-defendant claims.”
Mr Dalton said the industy also needed to consider if there was a need for a stand-alone portal for deafness claims to reduce the 17 months it currently takes to settle a typical industrial deafness claim.
He added there was a need for fixed legal costs.
In March 2014, 3,500 notifications for industrial deafness were made to the Compensation Recovery Unit, compared to 1,000 in March 2012.
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