Covid-19: Business Continuity

23rd March 2020

These are unique times. The coronavirus pandemic is impacting on individuals, families, businesses and our community as a whole.

Primarily, our thoughts are with those affected by the virus, particularly those who are sick. We wish them a speedy recovery, and we remain inspired by our healthcare workers looking after them and so many other people who are on the frontline in this battle.

Business Continuity:

We want to reassure clients, present and future, that we have robust systems in place to continue to provide Independent Evaluations in a timely and secure manner. We strongly believe that, in most cases, standard evaluations whereby clients attend an Evaluation appointment with an Evaluator provide the most likely prospect of a settlement being facilitated. However, at the present time, the health of our Evaluators and clients must be a priority and it is vital that we provide alternative methods for parties to progress their claims without unnecessary exposure to risk. We must therefore utilise technology to provide our service rather than require people to travel to our venues for in-person Evaluations.

You can be reassured that IE already functions remotely in many aspects of our business so day-to-day service is currently uninterrupted. Using the opportunities afforded by technology we can ensure our clients continue to benefit from the expertise and experience of our Evaluators.

We are already receiving a lot of enquiries from clients who can see that now, even more than ever, Independent Evaluation offers an efficient and effective alternative to cases ending up getting increasingly delayed by the inevitable effects of the current Covid-19 measures within our society.

We are working hard to ensure that we overcome the current challenges and complexities, and we remain as passionate and committed to providing an exceptionally professional and effective service enabling clients to resolve disputes. By diverting cases to IE, parties will avoid the impact of the Court service experiencing an inevitably immense backlog as a result of the limitations and protective measures in place to protect people across the country. For Claimants, we can ensure that at least in relation to this aspect of their lives we can provide an element of certainty amidst the huge levels of uncertainty across our society. And for Defendants / their insurers, referring to IE ensures claims do not end up heavily delayed, with the inevitable additional costs associated with that.

Alternatives to in-person Evaluations:

We provide two main options for clients wishing to refer cases to Independent Evaluation at this time:

Virtual Evaluations:

Virtual Evaluations allow us to retain our standard model of an Independent Evaluation taking place over the course of one day, but with interactions taking place remotely via our videoconferencing facility. As usual, each party has the opportunity to present their case to the Evaluator and answer any questions the Evaluator may have about the claim. A clear, unambiguous evaluation is then provided detailing what the Evaluator assesses the likely outcome would be if the case proceeds to trial. Once the parties have had an opportunity to reflect on this, the Evaluator would then work hard with the parties to see if common ground can be found from which to facilitate a settlement. Costs will also be dealt with during the virtual appointment.

Written Evaluations:

We already provide written evaluations in certain types of cases and in response to the current situation are now offering this service more widely. Parties retain the opportunity to have contact with the Evaluator prior and post the provision of the written evaluation. This option does not provide the very hands-on facilitative mediation element of the service: the central focus is on our Evaluators providing their evaluation of the likely outcome of the case were it to proceed to trial, which clients then use as a guide in their ongoing discussions. Clients who have opted for this method previously have found it effective, and the expertise of our Evaluators has been used by parties to successfully resolve disputes using this method.

Clients with Evaluations scheduled in the coming months:

We are contacting all our clients who have Evaluations already scheduled in order to discuss preferences for how to proceed within the context of these ever-changing circumstances.

Contact us:

For further details about our service and/or to refer a case to IE, please submit an enquiry or call Jonathan Bishop on 07549 511436.

We currently remain fully open for business and look forward to working with you to help progress client cases positively.

In the meantime, we wish you all good health.