Defending Value and Controlling Cost
Inside Carpenters Group’s Legal Defence department: specialist teams, commercial judgement and the evidence behind their approach.
Carpenters Legal Defence department spans all of the disciplines insurers need when a motor claim becomes disputed. From OIC and Portal matters to credit hire, fraud and large loss, the common purpose is to understand the insurer’s exposure and decide how best to respond.
The department provides a claims solution across the lifecycle of a matter. Dedicated handlers within specialist teams give clients continuity and the peace of mind that cases are being dealt with properly and that combination matters; a claim needs an assessment suited to its value and complexity, rather than a fixed route through the process.
A department built around different claims challenges
The range of work shapes how the department operates. Portal claims require familiarity with the process and the evidence needed to support a challenge. Credit hire brings disputes over the circumstances, duration and cost of hire. Fraud work requires concerns about dishonesty to be investigated carefully, while large loss demands continuing assessment of complex injury evidence and future exposure.
Kevin Perkins, Head of Legal Defence, describes the commercial judgement behind that work:
“The aim is not to take points for the sake of it. The aim is to give clients clear advice that helps them make the right decision. Sometimes that means taking a firm position, sometimes it means recognising where a different approach is needed.”
That judgement is supported by practical controls across the department: a dedicated case plan at instruction, supervisory checks as the matter progresses and specialist referral engaged by multiple checkpoints and escalations where the issues call for it.
Proactivity is key
Early triage gives that approach a practical starting point. Files are reviewed promptly after instruction, with the issues identified and a dedicated case plan setting out the strategy. The purpose is to establish what needs to be resolved before a claim acquires a longer and more expensive life of its own.
Taking the right cases to trial
A decision to defend needs to withstand scrutiny beyond the handler’s own assessment. Cases proceeding to trial undergo a pre-trial review, with a second opinion on the evidence, risk and costs. That includes the potential consequences of an opponent’s costs-protective offer: a defensible legal position does not remove the financial risk of litigation.
That approach has borne fruit with team’s liability outcomes improving year on year.
Credit hire: a targeted approach to cost
In credit hire, the amount claimed and the amount properly recoverable can differ substantially.
Extended hire periods and disputed rates make the circumstances of the hire important. The team’s specialist work examines the evidence behind the sums sought, rather than treating the headline demand as the starting point for an inevitable compromise.
Our professional driver strategy gives that work a specific focus. Developed in response to the growth in professional journeys involving couriers, delivery drivers and taxis, it targets an identifiable area of the credit hire market. The team has recorded significant savings on cases handled under this approach, alongside wider credit hire results involving targeted strategies
Finding the claims that need specialist attention
Not every claim reveals its significance at the outset. The department works with insurer partners on tailored indicators designed to flag potential exaggeration, suspected fraud or opportunities to challenge claim value. The aim is to move those cases to the appropriate specialist team early.
Large loss work presents a different challenge. Injury evidence, causation and future losses may develop over an extended period, changing the assessment of exposure.
Sean Harris, Large Loss Technical Lead, describes the need for continuing review:
“In higher value claims, decisions made early can affect the direction of the case much later on. You have to understand the evidence as it develops and keep reviewing the client’s position. That is where experience becomes really important.”
The incubated claims strategy addresses another source of overlooked potential: claims sitting behind a stay. The team’s work in this area led to success in the Court of Appeal in MH Site Maintenance Services Ltd & Anor v Watson, providing a concrete example of a targeted initiative reaching beyond routine file progression.
Building expertise across the team
Specialist expertise also depends on how knowledge is passed on. Experienced colleagues support others by sharing technical understanding and talking through difficult decisions.
Cassie Hopkins, Defence Team Manager, explains:
“Supporting colleagues as they develop is one of the most rewarding parts of the role. When people grow in confidence, they are able to make better decisions and provide a stronger service to clients.”
A relationship beyond individual files
For insurer clients, the department’s support extends to training, guidance and knowledge sharing on claims trends, legal developments and specific areas of risk. The aim is to make technical insight useful across a client’s portfolio, not only in the claim currently being handled.
What connects the department’s work is the combination of specialist knowledge, shared experience and commercial judgement. The evidence is in the way claims are reviewed, the targeted strategies developed and the outcomes recorded. For insurers, the value is a legal partner able to explain not just what can be argued, but what is worth pursuing - and when a different route better protects their position.
