The Practitioner: Bank lending the silver lining to PII claim cloud

TUESDAY STARTED OFF exactly like a Monday. Badly.

I opened the email inbox at about 8am to find an email from an ex-client wanting to claim for his tax bill on our PI insurance. An hour later we had a phone call from a client’s daughter, advising us that her dad had passed away.

Looking back on it, the second event probably made me put the first one into perspective.

In all my years of practising I’ve never had to deal with a claim – or even a potential claim – so you can imagine my annoyance at receiving the email from the client. He was so matter-of-fact about it, like it was an everyday occurrence to him. He is a solicitor, so perhaps that explains it.

He even had the balls to advise me that if my excess was more than his tax bill, maybe I could settle it out of my own pocket. I wouldn’t mind, but we are not even at fault – in my opinion.

I know no one is perfect, and everybody makes mistakes. I make a point of telling the staff that I don’t mind mistakes being made; it’s not admitting them that I don’t like.

But I genuinely don’t think, in this case, that the fault lies with us. It’s in the hands of the insurers now – so let’s wait and see.

Will he have to pay me back for time spent providing detail to the insurers and defending my claim, when he loses? I expect not.

Always one to look for the positives in any situation, I’m happy to report that our recent dealings with banks are all good. They appear to be open for business again. I do think, however, that certain managers who are reaching the end of their career are perhaps still stuck in the recession years and are reluctant to take the positive view on client situations.

I’m looking forward to the return of Williams & Glyn to the high street to see if the revival of ‘old-fashioned’ banking actually happens.

I’ve been told that the ‘manager in branch’ will be able to make lending decisions without having to ‘go upstairs’.

So let’s wait and see. If they don’t, my ex-client will probably try to find a way to sue him.

The Practitioner’s uncensored thoughts come from within their own practice, having left a regional firm in the heart of England