InsurTech UK Legal Expenses Insurance Claims Platform

LEI claims workflow

• 1notification (customer notifies insurer of legal dispute -- employment, property, motor, personal injury),
• 2merits assessment (solicitor panel assesses prospects of success -- ABI Code requires honest assessment, not just commercial decision),
• 3panel solicitor appointment (insurer appoints panel solicitor or customer chooses nominated solicitor -- FCA ICOBS 7.4),
• 4funding (insurer funds legal costs up to policy limit -- hourly rate schedule with panel solicitors),
• 5outcome (settlement, court judgment, withdrawal -- costs assessed and closed).

FCA Consumer Duty

LEI claims must be handled fairly -- ABI Code merits assessment threshold (reasonable prospects of success -- not a hard commercial decision).

SRA panel management for LEI

• 1panel solicitor onboarding (SRA registration verification via SRA API, conflict check, capacity management),
• 2case allocation (automated allocation based on case type, geographic location, solicitor capacity and specialism),
• 3hourly rate schedule (LEI panel rates typically 70-85% of SRA guideline rates -- automated rate calculation per solicitor grade),
• 4invoice validation (solicitor submits claim -- automated validation against panel rate schedule and court costs scale),
• 5SRA monitoring (annual panel review -- SRA disciplinary history checked via SRA API). FCA ICOBS 7.4: customer right to choose nominated solicitor in certain circumstances -- workflow handles nominated solicitor outside panel.

LAA Public Funding Integration

• LAA (Legal Aid Agency) for cases with public funding crossover: (1) means test (customer eligible for Legal Aid -- LEI as top-up funder, LAA as primary), (2) LAA certificate check (verify LAA certificate scope matches LEI policy cover), (3) cost sharing (LAA and LEI split costs in complex cases), (4) LAA billing (LAA bills separately from panel solicitor -- integration with LAA CCMS), (5) CLS Direct (now LASPO -- Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 -- scope of Legal Aid reduced).
• LAA CCMS (Client and Cost Management System)

API integration

automated certificate queries and cost submissions.

Consumer Duty for LEI claims

• 1product design (LEI product terms must be clear -- policy wording uses Plain English, Grade 8 or below Flesch-Kincaid),
• 2merits communication (customer told outcome of merits assessment in plain English with appeal right),
• 3appointed solicitor communication (customer knows who their solicitor is, how to contact them),
• 4progress updates (automated case progress notifications via GOV.UK Notify or email -- no waiting in the dark),
• 5complaints (FCA DISP -- LEI complaints within 8 weeks, clear FOS signposting).

ABI Code compliance

merits refusals must have independent review mechanism -- ClickMasters builds automated independent review request workflow.