We continue to progress our clients’ undisclosed commission claims through the Birmingham Courts. These multi-claimant actions represent the largest group of actions being brought in this area of law across the UK.

Having issued eight separate multi-claimant actions in November 2022, we attended a hearing in mid-February 2023 to determine the number of case management directions applying to all eight-multi-claimant actions. 

Following the hearing, we were directed by the court to agree with the defendant’s finance providers on what the common issues are between all of the claimants. Once agreed, this will help both parties decide which issues are to be represented in the multi-claimant action. A further hearing is to take place in April 2023. 

Separately, we are preparing further litigation against those defendants not party to the multi-claimant action and have been liaising with legal counsel to finalise our preparation for those proceedings.  

FatFace LTD 
On January 13, we received correspondance from FatFace’s legal representatives confirming their involvment in this matter. We have issued our letter of response to them and are currently awaiting their next response which should help us make the next decision in progressing claims. 

South Staffs Water
We have received correspondance from South Staffs Water’s legal representatives seeking further details from us. We have issued our letter of response with a schedule of claimants affected by the breach and we are currently awaiting their response to us. 

Curry’s Retail LTD
We have submitted distress statements on behalf of our clients to the court and to the defendant’s solicitors and are currently awaiting the court’s instructions.

Due to the large number of claimants involved in this case, there may be a short delay from the court when providing us with their instructions. 

On February 2023, we issued a court application to ask for directions from the court on how the case is going to proceed forward. 

All Funeral Plan clients should have now received a questionnaire to find out more information about their plan.  As we receive this information back, we are continuing to process the details and see which legal argument will stand the strongest for all clients based on what has been provided to us.

In the meantime, we are keeping a close watch on any legal changes made from judicial reviews and will make adaptations when required to ensure we can proceed as quickly and as smoothly as possible. nt

We are continuing to help and support small businesses where we can by accepting new claimants for this department. 

We are now in the process of engaging in open dialogue with the energy suppliers involved. This will allow us to build our case to be stronger and move faster through the pipeline due to having an understanding of the suppliers’ standpoint. 

While we await the responses from the suppliers we continue to maintain the pressure on them to ensure we can work with them and negotiate as soon as possible.

The legal argument for our diesel emissions claim has had a significant change. The changes made are to ensure claims have a higher chance of success based on recent judicial precedents that have been set. 

We are now in the vetting stages of building a final report to pursue group action. Group action means that we have a stronger chance of succeeding with your claim and ensuring compensation costs are maximised. Instead of taking each case forward individually, we will take all clients forward in a group against each manufacturer. 

Business Interruption claims have gained momentum with an increased number of cases issued in court. This is primarily because of the insurance companies refusing to deal with, or rejecting the policyholders’ claims. 

At present, Barings Law has more than 30 litigated cases in the High Court, and are one of five law firms that represent six lawsuits in respect of “at the premises” cases at the High Courts of Justice, which is to be heard in April 2023. 

The test case specifically addresses several variations of “at the premises” clause, while we will also be addressing an issue of the “Medical Officer of Health” which adds a level of complexity. The determination of this point would be the first in the UK and will set a precedent for other cases. 

We are pleased we are now seeing significant movement and more judicial guidance is handed down. We share our Counsel’s (KC) optimism and are hopeful for a positive outcome. A decision in favour of this combined action should assist over 800 claimants currently represented by Barings Law. 

For claims against Curry’s Retail LTD for the mis-selling of phone insurance, we have received 229 settlements this year so far for our cohort of clients who have had upheld complaints. 

As the year continues, we look forward to more positive outcomes for our clients.