Emma RadmoreOn 29 June 2018 the government published a draft statutory instrument, the Third Parties (Rights Against Insurers) Act 2010 (Consequential Amendment of Companies Act 2006) Regulations 2018. This regulation will give insurers the right to apply to restore a dissolved company to the register at any time in order to take legal proceedings, where such proceedings are in relation to a personal injury claim.
This facility is necessary to ensure that an insurer can bring a subrogated claim to recover contributions from third parties who are liable or share liability, where the insurer has already paid out damages for the claim. Currently there is a six year time limit for an application to restore a company to the register; therefore, particularly in the case of PI claims such as asbestos, claims may only brought, let alone settled, many years after a company has been dissolved.
The proposed amendment addresses this issue by adding that an application to restore a company may be made at any time for the purpose of an insurer bringing proceedings against a third party in the name of that company, in respect of that company’s liability for damages for personal injury.