Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Keoghs client newsletter, covering the main political issues and work that Keoghs has been doing at the start of 2019.
In this edition the focus is on the ongoing Brexit uncertainty, a series of reviews and consultations brought forward by the Ministry of Justice, and Keoghs engagement on young driver safety.
The year started much the same as the previous one ended, with wild speculation, flowcharts of potential outcomes, and feverish uncertainty about where the process of taking the UK out of the EU was going next.
The Prime Minister’s Brexit deal has already been defeated twice by MPs this year, by the record-breaking margin of 230 in January and the slightly-improved 149 votes in March. Parliament has since instructed the PM to ask for an extension of Article 50 from the EU, with Brexit day actually happening on 29 March seeming increasingly unlikely.
From an insurance perspective, the main effect of the ongoing drama is that Government and civil service time is dominated by the requirements of Brexit; of enacting the hundreds of statutory instruments that will be required before we leave, and planning for a no-deal Brexit.
This means that the legislative bandwidth needed for taking next steps on the implementation of the Civil Liability Act is currently severely limited, with the result being that the discount rate review and reform of whiplash laws will need the
maximum amount of time allocated for implementation.
As part of the event, Keoghs and its partners called on the Government to bring forward a consultation on the introduction of graduated driving licences in the UK as soon as possible to help stem the flow of young people dying disproportionately on the UK’s roads. We want to use the event as a springboard towards building our advocate base on this issue and putting pressure on the Government to act.
Following the passage of the Civil Liability Bill into law, Keoghs has shifted its focus in early 2019 to various regulatory reviews brought forward by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ):
Discount Rate
We completed our submission to the MoJ’s call for evidence, and held a roundtable on 23 January on how the Discount Rate review might affect insurers. The event heard from investment specialist Scott Ingham, the ABI’s Alastair Ross, and Derek O’Sullivan QC.
Whiplash Reforms
Keoghs own James Heath has been heavily involved in industry engagement on whiplash reforms as part of his role as FOIL President. Work is ongoing on this through the MoJ and MIB stakeholder discussions that James attends.
LASPO
More recently, the MoJ has finally published its review of LASPO. The Government does not propose making any changes to this legislation, stating that they are content that the changes made met with the objectives as set out.
Away from Brexit, Keoghs’ main focus has been on young driver safety. We hosted a Parliamentary event on 30 January, sponsored by Labour MP and young driver safety advocate Jenny Chapman. The event, which was attended by large numbers of our clients, road safety partners and MPs, heard speeches from Keoghs, Craig Tracey MP and the office of Jenny Chapman MP, as well as a moving speech from young driver safety advocate Sharron Huddleston, who tragically lost her daughter Caitlin in a car accident in 2017.
The event was designed to demonstrate the work that Keoghs has been doing to develop workable, sensible solutions to the issue of young driver safety, and call on the Government to bring forward a consultation on the introduction of graduated driving licences in the UK.
We’ve already had good engagement with the Department for Transport off the back of the young driver safety event, and are looking forward to more of the same with senior road safety figures in Parliament over the next few weeks.
More broadly, Brexit will continue to dominate the news agenda, with the extension to Article 50 not helping to clarify the way forward. As strange as it may seem so long after the referendum, all options are still on the table.
For more information please contact, Samantha Ramen
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