Claimspace, powered by verify , is a software ecosystem designed to settle claims without litigation. Fronted by Stewart McCulloch, Founder and Business Development Director, Claimspace doesn’t take sides – its only interest is being prompt and efficient when making a settlement. TM
McCulloch, a Solicitor by trade, comes from a background that started in the early 1980s working in the traditional legal profession. Working as Head of Personal Injury in a large and prominent law firm, Stewart recognised that the approach to the claims process was not working, he found it to be overly complicated with unnecessary layers of expenditure built into the process. So, for the last two years, Stewart has been looking at ways in which personal injury claims, initially motor claims, can be dealt with much more collaboratively and in a more economical way. And there born was Claimspace. Its clear aim? To act in a neutral way when drawing parties together to resolve an injury claim. Key features of the Claimspace service: • Negotiate, pay and resolve disputes all in one place • Fixed recoverable costs to claimant lawyer maintained in full • Improved customer experience • Add-on services at lower than market cost • Efficient legal alternative to MOJ Portal and MedCo Stewart wants to keep it simple, collaborative, frictionless and cost effective so all of the above are tools to help claims teams work better, streamline communications and offer a new way of working. It is Stewart’s vision that all parties will be able to use this service to collaborate more effectively by exchanging and sharing data and documents – data is the oil of the future after all. He also explained that the case will continue whether liability is admitted or not and that the parties will continue to work together to get a settlement: “Our Claimspace team will monitor and support the negotiation. If the issues have not been resolved, then we will move seamlessly into a dispute resolution process that doesn’t involve going to court but is nevertheless binding in a legal sense. A very simple arbitration process.”
We see ourselves as providing an alternative commercial onestop shop to the different forms of facilities that are going to be available through the Ministry of Justice when the reforms take place in April 2020
Simple, collaborative, frictionless and cost effective Supported Negotiations and Dispute Resolution: • Automated admissions by data upload • No stage 1 fallouts (liability disputed cases remaining on platform) • Unique 75 day disclosure and supported negotiation period • Supported negotiation by facilitators provided by Claimspace reduces disputes • Seamless route to cost-effective binding online arbitration for disputed cases • All fees recoverable as part of fixed cost regime So, how does Claimspace fit within the handl group? “I was looking for an organisation that would support me in developing this idea and I got talking to handl Group,” explained McCulloch, “they said they were really interested in presenting something to the market that would facilitate a cleaner, safer and collaborative way of dealing with claims. After a number of conversations, we agreed something between us and set up Claimspace.” Claimspace will sit within the handl Group, and once set up in a commercial capacity, it will have its own governance and reserve its independence. “We see ourselves as providing an alternative commercial one-stop shop to the different forms of facilities that are going to be available through the Ministry of Justice when the reforms take place in April 2020,” said McCulloch. Claimspace is currently going through the process of testing, with the company looking to run a proof of concept later this year.
Stewart McCulloch is the Founder and Business Development Director at Claimspace
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