Navigating EL/PL Portal Claims - The Current Landscape

Introduction

The Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury (Employers’ Liability and Public Liability) Claims (‘the EL/PL Protocol’) has been in place since 2013.

This course provides a practical and up-to-date overview of the Employers’ Liability and Public Liability (EL/PL) Protocol, guiding you through each stage of the process from initial applicability to resolution. In addition, it will explore fixed costs, recent procedural developments, and key recent authorities shaping the operation of the protocol, equipping you with the knowledge needed to navigate EL/PL claims confidently and effectively.

This course is aimed at personal injury litigators, fee earners, and file handlers. It will be of relevance to those who work in private practice and those who work in-house for insurers and claims management companies.

What You Will Learn

This course will cover the following:

• Does the EL/PL Protocol apply?
• Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the process
• The nature of admissions made under the EL/PL Protocol
• Issuing a claim under 49FPD
• Issuing protectively
• Requesting a Stage 3 hearing
• Securing approval of a settlement where the claimant is a child
• The Stage 3 procedure
• What to expect
• How to prepare
• Recent changes/developments
• Fixed costs
• Recent decisions of interest
• Unreasonably valuing the claim over £25,000 (Ferguson v Royal Borough of Greenwich [2025])
• Exceptions to the EL/PL Protocol - value and harm, abuse or neglect (Johnson v Choice Support [2025])
• The power of the Court to make directions under the protocol where the claimant has issued protectively under Part 8 (MH Site Maintenance Services Limited & Anor v Watson [2025])