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Hiscox hits out at ‘unfair’ practices in defamation cases

Hiscox has criticised some claimant law firms for manipulating and inflating costs in defamation and privacy cases.
After The Event (ATE) insurance policies can be used to inflate costs and may not offer any real costs protection to defendants.
More than half of all media claims Hiscox has handled since 2003 have been in the defamation and privacy class, and the insurer supports Lord Justice Jackson’s proposals to end recoverability of ATE premiums.
Ian Birdsey, Media and Technology Claims Manager at Hiscox, said: “The broken system in place means that defendants in defamation and privacy claims may well suffer the disadvantages of paying for ATE policies when they lose, without any of the expected benefits when they win.”