How Claimspace’s Collaborative Approach helps Cogent Hire Resolve Disputes

How many TV shows and films have you seen where someone shoves back a chair, slams a fist on the table and shouts “see you in court!” before storming into a corridor?

 

It’s exciting!

 

It’s dramatic!

 

It’s the worst possible ending to any real life dispute.

 

But the adversarial mindset that surrounds vehicle accidents encourages people to stand up, slam their fist on the table, and set proceedings on the path to a courtroom.

A courtroom where parties are encouraged to go on the attack, with claims and counterclaims, when all that’s really needed is a sensible conversation so a judge can determine who’s responsible for an accident, and whether a claim is reasonable.

 

“People enjoy the luxury of flexing their muscles.”

Cogent Hire is working to change the adversarial mindset that surrounds claims. So it doesn’t make sense to slam our fists on the table and settle things in court. It’s not the way we like to do things.

MD Kirsty McKno explains:

“It’s the norm for claimant parties and insurers to fight like cat and dog. This costs money in overheads and legal costs, and can all start to feel like people are enjoying the luxury of flexing their muscles at the expense of policy holders.”

It’s clear that the traditional courtroom style of dispute resolution didn’t fit with Cogent Hire’s collaborative, frictionless ethos. So we needed an alternative method of dispute resolution. We found one. We found Claimspace.

 

“Even the government doesn’t want cases going to court.”

Claimspace’s independent alternative dispute resolution (ADR) service is designed to keep cases out of court and allow for smoother, frictionless resolutions that don’t require the argumentative back-and-forth that a day in court demands.

It’s an alternative that arrived at the right time for our all parties, as Claimspace MD Stewart McCulloch is keen to point out:

“The Ministry of Justice is now going to restrict the amount of legal costs that parties can recover in claims involving post-accident mobility provision such as credit hire. The government is stepping in to say that they don’t want these cases in court, so if you want your day of banging your fist on the table, you can’t expect the other party to cover all your costs. Even if you win.”

Arbitration is the clear and obvious alternative - with parties bound by an independent expert human arbitrator. And Claimspace takes that process online to keep things moving quickly and keep costs down. Stewart explains:

“Online digitised arbitration is quick, and it’s not complicated. We see a final decision in usually no more than 21 days. That keeps costs far lower, and means that CHCs, insurers and policyholders won’t be short-changed under the new rules.”

 

No Objections?

The future of dispute resolution for accident claims lies outside of the courtroom. The government doesn’t want cases in front of a judge. Claimants can’t recover all their legal costs so they don’t want to be in front of a judge, and defendants are happy to settle out of court as long as the deal is fair.

By partnering with Claimspace, Cogent Hire is able to offer a resolution that all parties are happy with, reached in a way that’s collaborative, and that can help much better relationships develop.

Stewart concludes:

“The decisions we see from Claimspace are identical to those you’d expect in a court, so there are no concerns, no objections. ADR creates a system that’s collaborative not adversarial, and that fosters cordial, pragmatic relationships that improve cash flow and reserves.”

Discussion, not debate. Collaboration, not confrontation.

It’s not exciting.

It’s not dramatic.

It’s definitely the way we like to work.

 

With Claimspace handling ADR, the future is undoubtedly more calm conversation and less banging of fists.