New GTA independent chair appointed

Stewart McCulloch has been appointed to the position of independent chair of the GTA, the name given to the organisation that oversees the General Terms of Agreement between credit hire companies and insurers.

He was jointly appointed to the role by the Credit Hire Organisation (CHO) and motor insurers that subscribe to the GTA’s terms and will step up from his current position as independent secretary of the GTA Technical Committee. 

The GTA was set up in 1999 as a form of voluntary self-regulation to remove friction between insurers and credit hire companies when settling credit hire claims. 

The agreement forms the basis of the operation of the UK credit hire sector.

In a statement released today (2 November 2023), the GTA explained that the appointment of McCulloch was “the latest step towards evolving a revised GTA to account for both developments in the industry since it was launched as well as the  current challenging conditions in the motor claims supply chain.”

McCulloch will take up his new role on 1 December 2023.

Anthony Hughes, chair and chief executive officer of the CHO, and James Driscoll, senior claims manager at Aviva and chair of the insurer technical committee, said they were “confident” in the appointment.

They added: “We are confident that McCulloch’s leadership will enable us to make smooth progress towards a revised GTA that will meet the needs of insurers and CHCs now and into the future.”

Experience

McCulloch brings 25 years of experience as a partner in a law firm, where he mostly dealt with personal injury claims.

During this period, he assisted insurers and claimant organisations in setting up settlement protocols in a bid to avoid expensive ligation.

He also worked with local courts to establish rules to design streamlined process to reduce costs and worked with government departments in establishing cost effective processes to support publicly funded work.

McCulloch commeted: “I’ve been impressed by the business-like approach taken to the latest round of negotiations and I look forward to playing my part in effecting the compromises that will be required to get a successful result.”