Sector Focus Teams
FOIL undertook a radical overhaul of its special interest groups to strengthen its areas of sector focus and engage more effectively with the whole of its membership.
A series of new member-led sector focus teams has been set up which will be more closely aligned to the operational structure of the insurance industry, making these teams immediately more relevant to the interests of FOIL members and their client base.
The first teams to be set up are focusing on:
Each of these teams will identify key topics and issues of most importance to their area; they will examine and argue any case for change and be in the frontline of formulating FOIL’s official policy and response to relevant government or industry consultations.
In time the teams will cover five overarching areas – Personal Injury; Financial Lines; Policy Coverage; Self-Insured Corporations and Cross-Sector issues. Under each umbrella heading a number of interest sub-areas has been identified, for example motor within the Personal Injury area and professional indemnity under Financial Lines. (See below for complete list).
The Sector Focus Teams replace the 10 current special interest groups whose mission and focus had become less certain with the passing of time.
By focusing on groups whose interests more closely mirror the different classes of insurance written by insurers and more of the issues faced by insurance lawyers generally, FOIL aims to make itself more valuable to defendant lawyers and insurers alike.
The new Sector Focus Teams have five key roles:
- To help develop policy for FOIL so that when issues arise the organisation has a position to take;
- To facilitate training or seminars, for members, and non-members on topical or important issues arising in their sector;
- To act as spearheads for particular campaigns or projects in their sector e.g. consultation or administrative reform processes;
- To engage in thought-leadership with insurers and other focus groups on behalf of FOIL;
- To demonstrate to non-members and potential clients the extent of expertise within the FOIL membership.
Each Sector Focus Team has four members - Head, Deputy, Liaison Officer and Communications Officer. Meetings are held quarterly, face-to-face or via tele/video conference, and are chaired by the FOIL CEO or another member of the National Steering Committee (comprising the FOIL CEO, President and two lobby officers), which is responsible for reporting on sector activity to FOIL’s National Committee.
Sector Focus Team members will be elected or re-elected annually. The fixed-term is designed to assist each member in planning their time effectively.
With this new injection of energy and purpose FOIL hopes to attract new members, especially from areas that will be covered by FOIL for the first time, such as Solicitors Regulation.
