Y2K litigation fails to take off

Contrary to some expectations, the volume of Y2K litigation is on a downward trend.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has been tracking millennium suits and recorded only three new ones in the third quarter of 1999 Ð and those figures come from the US, famous for the speed with which aggrieved parties call their lawyers. Numbers from 1998 were significantly higher.

PWC thinks it has identified a new trend, however, which may yet take off. This involves companies with Y2K problems going ahead with remedial work and then returning later to sue their insurance companies to recover the costs.

The consultants predict that the second quarter of 2000 will the key time period. If suits aren't filed by then, they probably won't be filed at all, says PWC.

Also on the millennium theme, the BBC reports that the average bonus to be paid to staff who work on December 31 will be £300. Their survey uncovered a range from next to nothing extra for police and NHS employees to well above the £500 top-up the BBC will give its own staff.

Elliott Chase