Effective from 19th July, our Edinburgh office at 16 - 20 Castle Street, Edinburgh, EH2 3AT, will be temporarily closed as we are in the process of relocating. During this period, there will be no staff at this office.

Please be assured that it is business as usual. You can continue to contact your solicitor by phone or email for any assistance or to discuss your case. We appreciate your understanding and are committed to ensuring that our services remain uninterrupted during this transition.

Claim Now

To ensure we give you the most tailored advice regarding your data breach enquiry, we kindly request that you complete our specialised enquiry form. You can access the form
by clicking on the following button: Click here

Click here to return to the previous window

It was with depressing, unsurprising and complete and utter inevitability that I read the submission of the insurance industry to the Scottish Parliament in relation to the Bill to remove time bar for victims of historical abuse.  
 
I have blogged on the need for a change in the law in this area in the past (Justice delayed is Justice denied).  To describe the law on time bar as it applies to victims of historical abuse as an anachronism is simply too anodyne.  It downplays the extent to which the law completely fails the victims.  The law is wrong.  Plain and simple.  

Patrick McGuireThat is why the Scottish Government must be congratulated for the Bill that they are taking forward.  They, like every right thinking person in Scottish civil society recognise that the law must change; that the victims of historical abuse must have a right to their day in court; and that no one should be able to hide behind the passage of time to avoiding their obligation to make amends.

The Scottish Government and every right thinking Scottish citizen also recognises that every victim of historical abuse should receive fair and just compensation.  
The ultimate cost of that compensation is completely irrelevant.  It is recognised that this is about something far bigger than money.  
 
The insurance industry in stark contrast to all of us, have yet again shown their ugly, base and compassionless side yet again. An industry that counts its profit in hundreds of billions, shadowing the GBP of many nations, has decided to get involved in the debate and to argue that the financial cost of the Bill to their industry would be significantly higher than initially thought and, moreover, the passing of the Bill “would undermine legal certainty in Scotland”.
 
I have no words.  
 
They are of course wrong.  The law will be entirely certain – all victims of historical abuse will have their day in court as everyone (except the insurers agree they should) agree the must.  The law will also, therefore, be entirely right, just and fair.
 
What the Association of British Insurers intervention does is undermine the standing of the insurance industry in the eyes of the entire Scottish nation.  
 
Insurers – hang your head in shame.  

Blog by Patrick McGuire, Partner

Injured through no fault of your own?
Call us on
To see how much you could claim
Compensation Specialists
Our offices and meeting places
Talk to Thompsons
Claim Now