79 Response Accepted

Codes of practice for civil CSA claims

Recommendation

The Local Government Association and the Association of British Insurers should each produce codes of practice for responding to civil claims of child sexual abuse. The codes should include recognition of the long-term emotional and psychiatric or psychological effects of child sexual abuse on victims and survivors, and acknowledgement that these effects may make it difficult for victims and survivors to disclose that they have been sexually abused and to initiate civil claims for that abuse. The codes should also include guidance that: 1. claimants should be treated sensitively throughout the litigation process; 2. the defence of limitation should only be used in exceptional circumstances; 3. single experts jointly instructed by both parties should be considered for the assessment of the claimants' psychiatric, psychological or physical injuries; and 4. wherever possible, claimants should be offered apologies, acknowledgement, redress and support.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- In August 2021, the Association of British Insurers published a Code of Practice on Responding to Civil Claims of Child Sexual Abuse (Government Response, ABI, August 2021).
- In May 2023, the government confirmed that the ABI had published its Code of Practice as recommended (Government Response to IICSA Final Report, HM Government, May 2023).
How was this evidence gathered?
Evidence searched by claude-opus-4-6 on 10 Apr 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
Jurisdiction
England
Section Reference
G
Response
Accepted
Accepted UK Government
22 May 2023

Association of British Insurers: In August 2021, the Association of British Insurers published a Code of Practice on Responding to Civil Claims of Child Sexual Abuse. It seeks to improve certain aspects of the civil claims process that are within insurers' control for victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. Local Government Association: On 16 August 2021, the Local Government Association stated that it had worked with several member councils and national organisations to develop a draft code of practice. On 25 April 2022, the Local Government Association stated that the draft code of practice would be going to its Executive Advisory Board for final approval and would then be published on its website.

Read Full Response
Source
Inquiry IICSA
Report Accountability and Reparations Investigation Report 19 Sep 2019
Responsible Bodies
Association of British Insurers Primary
Recommendation age 6.6 yrs
Last formal update 1054 days ago