Arbiter provides a service of dispute resolution to the road accident compensation industry. The Arbiter solution is an economical, swift and fair alternative to the conventional court system.

Arbiter is a rational approach to dispute resolution. 

Under the Arbiter system, cases are brought together with barristers and judges experienced specifically in credit hire and road accident claims at a designated hearing session where large volumes of claims can be dealt with quickly and fairly. The process is fast-tracked to achieve resolutions fairly whilst minimising costs. Hire companies are able to release cash flow whilst insurers are able to close files, save massively on legal fees and internal administration and, ultimately, to pass the savings on to policyholders.

Justice is in everybody's interest and justice delayed is justice denied.  Protracted negotiations are expensive for insurers and can choke cash flow of hire companies.

Under the current system of justice, insurers find themselves paying an average of £1.80 for claimant legal costs for every £1 that they pay out by way of damages. The disproportionate sums that are spent on legal costs for resolution of cases ultimately impacts on premiums. Escalating premiums for motor insurance have brought the need for a viable alternative to the traditional method of dispute resolution through the court system to a crisis point. 

When cases are run according to the conventional court system, a claiming hire company can find itself running cases against the same insurance companies in 20 different courts, incurring 20 sets of fees for hearings, solicitors and barristers. The claims can be heard by judges with little or no experience of credit hire and road accident compensation. The cases are subject to the delays of an overloaded court system and to the conflicting interests of solicitors working under a costs regime that provides them no direct incentive for the recovery of sums for hire and storage.

Arbiter adopts a rationalised approach to bringing parties together for negotiation, mediation and, where resolution is otherwise not achieved, definitive arbitration of disputes.

Arbitrators employed by Arbiter apply English law to the cases that they decide. The flexibility of the Arbiter scheme allows the development of processes that identify points in issue early on so that only relevant material is placed before arbitrators and argument is defined and limited to the points that are truly in issue.

Arbiter does not deal with contentious issues of liability or claims for personal injury. So, typically, a case suitable for the Arbiter scheme will be one where liability is not the issue but the sum due for hire, repair or storage is disputed.

A case can be submitted for arbitration by either the claiming party, for example, he hire company or storage company, or by a defending party; typically, an insurer. 

The parties submitting the claim instructs Arbiter to invite the other party to the arbitration. At that stage, they have the opportunity to inform Arbiter that they wish to make an offer to the other party. It must be remembered that, submitting to arbitration is a voluntary as opposed to a call to court which is enforceable by sanction.

If the party receiving the invitation accepts, Arbiter will relay any offer that has been made by the inviting party and any acceptance or counter offer from the other party.  At that time, Arbiter will also fix a date for hearing which will be at the next but one session, typically between four and eight weeks of the date of the invitation. This is referred to as the "negotiation" stage. The fee for any case that is settled in the negotiation stage is £200.

If the matter is not settled within the first four weeks, Arbiter arranges for the instruction of counsel for the claiming party and the provision of documents for all parties based on the data and documents that the parties have submitted.

If the invitation is from a claiming party and the defending party fails to respond or declines arbitration, counsel will prepare papers for issue through the conventional courts.

The first hours of arbitration are set aside for the representatives of each party to meet to attempt to settle issues that can be resolved before the arbitrator hears the case. This is known as the "mediation" stage. Cases that are not settled in mediation proceed to arbitration in front of our arbitrator. Cases that are settled after council is instructed that before the arbitration begins are deemed to have settled in the mediation stage and the fee is £400.

If the matter is not settled in negotiation on mediation, the matter is determined by the arbitrator and the fee is £600.

If the matter is settled in the mediation stage for a sum that was offered by the insurer in the negotiation stage, the defending party pays the fee that they would have been liable for any the negotiation stage and the claiming party pays the balance.

All of our arbitrator's are experienced judges with specific knowledge of credit hire issues and law.

The tight time schedule achieves a balance allowing sufficient time for assessment and negotiation whilst encouraging swift resolution that produces savings for both parties.

Once the invitation to arbitrate is accepted, both parties will be bound by the arbitration terms regarding costs. The rule is "loser pays" and is described more fully on the terms and conditions page of our website.