Equipa

Nota legal

Three legislative challenges for claims handling in the future

15/09/2021

In this Briefing, we analyse three prospective pieces of legislation that would significantly change the claims handling process by insurers.

This draft bill includes most of the provisions of the former Draft Bill for the Promotion of Mediation. In January 2019, that legislation raised the need for mandatory mediation concerning liability for professional negligence, non-contractual civil liability claims not connected to traffic events, construction defects in construction leases or disputes with company management bodies. These are just four examples that are directly related to activities and situations where insurance is a factor. Despite its great vacatio legis (three years elapsed from its publication in the BOE until it entered into force), the act signified a total change of thinking in the Spanish legal system (and implicitly recognised the failure of Law 5/2012, of 6 July, on Mediation in Civil and Commercial Matters), establishing mandatory negotiation as a guiding principle in many areas of litigation. Now its principles are included in the Draft Bill on Litigation Efficiency Measures approved by the Council of Ministers on 15 December 2020.

The entire content of the Legal Briefing can be found in the PDF.