The High Court recently delivered judgment in the matter of Gray v Richards involving the entitlement of plaintiffs to claim the fees for the management of damages awards.
The effect of the decision is that in claims that attract fund management, insurers will now have to pay not just fund management fees (fee ‘A’) as applied previously but also the fee for the cost of managing fee A. This will add to claims costs particularly for claimants with longer life expectancy. It remains to be seen whether this issue will be addressed through legislative change (for example in NSW through the Civil Liability Act 2002) so as to restore the position as was previously applied.
View the High Court case summary and the High Court decision.
