Lovely evening with the team for our Christmas Party 🎄

The start of December can mean only one thing; the end of the year is hovering just around the corner. This month is traditionally busy as people build up to celebrating firstly Christmas and then the start of a fresh New Year. It is therefore a great time to reflect on the year past before we get caught up in the festivities and new beginnings and resolutions. But reflection shouldn't be about focusing on things that could be done better in the future; we shouldn't 'water the weeds' or that is all we will grow; look at the positive things you achieved this year be they personal or professional, big or small and plan ahead so that you can try and repeat your successes next year. Have a great Friday, and a great December.

-GOVERNMENT REFORM UPDATE- The devil really is in the detail here, thanks to our Nik Gittins for eeking this out of the paperwork and analysing the maths. If you ever needed convincing that insurers will not pass on savings from the proposed reforms consider this (please bear with us). In budget papers published yesterday, the government believes that the reforms will result in a loss of IPT revenue of £10m in 2018/19. IPT is charged on top of premiums at a rate of 12% which means for the government revenues to fall by £10m, insurance premium 'sales' will actually need to have fallen by approx £83m. Given that there were, at last estimate, roughly 36m cars on the road, this amounts to a premium saving of approximately £2.30 per car; not the £45.00 we were promised is it!

The cold wind is blowing and the streets are getting dark; fortunately the kind folks at The AA have some excellent advice to help you stay safe on the roads this winter. https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/seasonal/winter

Inspirational Friday quote time (apologies that it's a bit late): "The team that makes the most mistakes, usually wins; because doers make mistakes" - John Wooden, UCLA. Nobody's perfect; being prepared to try and fail rather than being afraid of failure, is half the battle. If you've spent the week trying, whether or not you have succeeded or come up short; make sure you have a great weekend!

As the days are becoming shorter and the nights are drawing in, we can say with good authority that Winter is indeed coming. There are a number of nasty bugs doing the rounds at the minute and at this time of year, it's extra important to try and keep them at bay, especially from our little ones. The NHS has published great guidance on their website and we urge you to take a quick look at it to help you and yours stay fit and healthy in order to enjoy all that this wonderful time of year has to offer. https://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/winterhealth/Pages/Healthywinter.aspx

"Your Monday morning thoughts set the tone for your whole week. See yourself getting stronger, and living a fulfilling, happier & healthier life." - Germany Kent. Have a great Monday, and a great week.

This proposal really does need to be extended to include Personal Injury CMCs and to cover unsolicited SMS messages as well. https://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/government-unexpected-u-turn-cmc-cold-calling-ban

Anyone with any doubt as to what is causing premiums to go up should check the financial reports for Aviva, AXA, Direct Line Group, EUI and the ABI's General Insurance Overview (published October 2017) which shows that, for the sixth year running, claims costs have fallen while your premiums have steadily risen. The fall between 2015 and 2016 in claims costs is nearly 12%

We are sad today to be bidding farewell to one of our Litigation Solicitors, Aleem Mahmood. Aleem has been with the firm for just under three years and during that time has been a valued member of the Litigation team. He is moving to pastures new having secured a Commercial Litigation role in a Manchester firm. He departs with our best wishes and we have every confidence that he will be as successful during this next phase of his career as he has during his time with us. All the best Aleem!

Today is exactly 130 days since the Defendants in the Autofocus scandal were given their prison sentences; arising from what the High Court Judge described as "fraud on an industrial scale". Despite this, and despite the fact that three leading Defendant Solicitor firms now find themselves as Defendants in a commercial action brought by Accident Exchange, not a single Defendant commentator, insurance company, Defendant law firm or professional body has come out with a meaningful degree of condemnation for the actions carried out by Autofocus. The actions of the Autofocus employees in as many as 30,000 cases in attempting to artificially reduce the compensation payable to Claimants for temporary replacement cars, was the worst kind of dishonesty and it will only have served to prolong litigation and increase costs. We await the outcome of the commercial action with interest.

TGIF! The Grind Includes Friday! Everyone loves Fridays; that feeling when you grab your coat and exit the building is one of the best feelings of the week. But we shouldn't treat Friday as a non-event, instead, make sure you don't let up; extend and push yourself and carry that momentum through your weekend and into next week. Have a great Friday and a great weekend everyone!