Mr. Jackie McMahon:

In the first instance, we put much time and effort into investigating a claim. In that we want to understand whether the customer is on cover and if liability is an issue. In other words, we consider whether we are at fault within the claim. If investigations indicate the customer is on cover and there is liability, we would be in a position of trying to value the scale of the injury. My core point is that those scales are essentially set as a market rate by the courts. What we are trying to do that is absolutely in our customers' interests and favour is to pay the claim without having to pay the significant cost to bring it through the legal system, which has a two-fold impact. The first is that when the length of time the injury is suffered is greatest, the compensation may be significantly higher, and we would also incur costs. It is absolutely in our interests to settle the claim at a fair price. It is also in the claimant's interest to settle that in a speedy manner. If it is in that zone, we will try to settle the matter. If it is not, we will fight it absolutely.