Insurance Broker Negligence Compensation Claims

Can I sue my insurance broker for negligence?

Finding adequate insurance cover can often be tricky and time-consuming. Many individuals and businesses turn to insurance brokers to find them the right products for the right price, in line with their individual requirements. The majority of the time, insurance brokers offer expert guidance and successfully find the most suitable products for their clients.

But in certain circumstances, brokers can let you down by failing in their duty of care. This is known as broker negligence, and may involve mis-sold products, failure to insure all risks you specified, or incorrectly handled claims, for example. If you’ve experienced insurance broker negligence you may be able to make a claim for compensation.

How can Been Let Down help with broker negligence cases?

Our team of experienced, qualified solicitors specialise in professional negligence claims. We’ve worked with a number of clients who have suffered insurance broker negligence, so understand the situation you’re dealing with. Our knowledge and expertise in this area means we are ready to help you make a claim for broker negligence.

We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and all our solicitors are members of the Law Society of England and Wales. You can rest assured that we’ll handle your case professionally and diligently throughout, working hard to achieve a positive outcome. We want to make the process as simple and stress-free as possible for you, so we’ll explain everything in full and keep you updated throughout.

Our friendly team of experts are here to help, so get in touch today or call 0800 234 3234 to find out if you can make a claim.

What does an insurance broker do?

An insurance broker helps businesses and individuals find the right insurance products to suit their requirements. They must listen to the needs of their clients, offer guidance and advice on their options, and seek out the right level and type of insurance cover.

This requires assessment of a range of insurance products from different insurers to find policies with the most comprehensive level of cover to meet the needs of the client. They must also ensure the product is suitable from a cost perspective. In addition to finding clients the best products, brokers play active roles in claims management, notifying the underwriting insurer in the event of a claim.

Brokers typically act as a third-party intermediary between the customer and the insurance company underwriting the policy. They usually work in the in areas of:

• Car insurance — private or business
• Employers’ liability
• Public liability
• Professional indemnity
• Travel insurance
• Reinsurance
• Before the event products such as legal cover

What is insurance broker negligence?

Insurance brokers are skilled professionals that are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This means they have a duty of care to all their clients and must adhere to the rules and regulations of the FCA. Typically, most brokers will meet the expected standard of service, but unfortunately errors can happen from time to time.

When an insurance broker fails in their duty of care, it is known as broker negligence. Unfortunately, this negligence can have huge financial impacts on individuals and businesses. If you’ve suffered due to negligent advice or actions of your broker, get in touch with our team of specialist professional negligence solicitors.

What are the most common types of insurance broker negligence?

Insurance brokers are generally independent businesses with no ties to specific insurers (unless they specify otherwise). Sometimes, problems can arise when the broker either recommends or mis-sells an insurance product because of an incentive offered by the underwriting insurer. Depending on the level of mis-selling, they may have committed insurance broker negligence.

Typically, if an insurance broker has let you down, they may have done one or more of the following:

• Provided inadequate insurance cover
• Not insuring all risks which you specified
• Not providing a policy which fits your needs
• Providing a restrictive insurance product which could bring adverse risk
• Not following your instructions, causing financial loss
• Failing to purchase the insurance product
• Failing to report a risk to the insurance company
• Failing to renew the policy upon instruction to do so
• Negligence claim handling resulting in losses or damage to reputation

If you can’t see what happened to you here, or you’re unsure if you can make a claim for insurance broker negligence, get in touch with our friendly team on 0800 234 3234 or fill out our online form. We’ll be able to chat through what happened and see if you have grounds to make a claim.

Please be aware that we cannot assist you if you feel the service you have been provided is simply poor. If this is the case, you may be able to submit a formal complaint to the broker or through the Financial Ombudsman Service; please refer to our ‘Negligence or just a complaint‘ page for further information. Please note that if you make a complaint to the Ombudsman and are awarded damages, you may be unable to claim additional compensation from the broker firm.

What’s the broker negligence claims process?

When you make a broker negligence compensation claim, it follows a process set out in the Pre-Action Protocol for Professional Negligence. This aims to help claimants and defendants resolve disputes without having to go to court by gathering evidence and identifying all issues in a structured manner. It details which steps need to be taken and within what timeframe.

When you make a claim with us, you’ll first talk with a member our specialist team about what happened. They’ll review the facts of your case and establish whether broker negligence occurred. Your solicitor will need to prove that the broker’s negligent actions and/or advice led to your financial loss, which may involve reviewing documentation, paperwork or obtaining expert evidence. It’s worth having all relevant paperwork or documentation ready to be reviewed before you start the claims process.

Your solicitor will send the broker a letter of notice, followed by a letter of claim. What happens next depends on whether the broker accepts fault. If they accept the claim, a settlement can be reached at this stage. If they dispute the claim, negotiation may be appropriate, or court proceedings may be started – but this is always a last resort.

How do I start an insurance broker negligence claim?

If you’d like to make an insurance broker negligence claim, the first step is to arrange a call with a member of our specialist team. We’ll talk through what happened in the strictest confidence to understand the facts of your case and let you know if we think you have grounds to make a claim. Your initial enquiry is completely free of charge and you’re not obligated to go ahead with your claim.

Is there a time limit for making a broker negligence claim?

Yes, there is. In most cases, you have six years from the date of the negligence to make a broker negligence claim. However, if you were unaware of the negligence until a later date, you have three years from the “date of knowledge” – which is the date you became aware of the negligence.

If you are considering making a broker negligence claim, we advise getting in touch with a legal professional as soon as possible to have the best chance of success. You can call us on 0800 234 3234 or contact us for more information.

How do I fund the legal fees?

Here at Been Let Down, we aim to get you the maximum compensation possible. That’s why we can usually take on your broker negligence claim on a ‘No Win No Fee’ basis.

This is through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) which means that if your case is successful, a fee will be deducted from the compensation you win to pay your solicitor. This is called a “success fee” and will be agreed between you and your solicitor before your case begins. It is typically a percentage of your overall compensation figure.

If your case is unsuccessful, you won’t pay a penny to us in legal fees. This gives you the opportunity to pursue your claim without any personal financial risk.

Here to help you

We can help if you’ve suffered a financial loss as a result of wrongdoing by an insurance broker. If you wish to pursue a claim, you can call us on 0800 234 3234 to speak to a member of our legal team. Alternatively, you can fill in our online contact form and we will call you back.