Discount Rate

The Professional Development Group of the IASG would like to invite you to attend their next CPD event which will focus on everything you wanted to know about the Discount Rate (but were afraid to ask)!

The discount rate is used to calculate damages for future losses for personal injuries and had remained unchanged since 2001. On 27 February 2017, the UK government changed the discount rate in England & Wales, reducing it from 2.5% to -0.75% Then, on 28 March the Scottish Government followed. Few in the insurance industry will not be aware of the change but what effect will it actually have and what changes should you make to your current practice? Join us while experts from Brodies take us through what you need to know about the rate and what you ought to consider when advising clients.

Learning objectives:
By attending this seminar delegates will be able to identify:

1. How is the Discount Rate set and why it has changed.
2. What effect will the new rate have on settlements.
3. When is the rate likely to change again and by what means?
4. Key risks for brokers arising from the changes and their impact on limits of indemnity

Kate Donachie is an Associate in the Edinburgh casualty team, having joined Brodies in 2016 from a large international law firm. She has 13 years of experience dealing with all manner of defendant personal injury disputes and has acted for many insurers, self-insured businesses, public bodies and local authorities. Her caseload is comprised of complex and high value liability and motor claims where she uses her significant experience to provide the highest quality strategic and case by case advice, consistently achieving excellent results and securing substantial indemnity savings for clients.

Alisdair Matheson is a partner in the professional risks team of Brodies’ Glasgow office. He has over 20 years of dispute resolution experience, most of it dealing with professional negligence claims on behalf of a variety of insurers. He is dual accredited in professional negligence and construction law by the Law Society of Scotland and is the Scottish member of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers’ UK-wide professional negligence sector focus team. He is a member of the Chartered Insurance Institute (and an IASG Vice president), the Society of Construction law and the Adjudication Society.