Sarah Erwin-Jones and James Arrowsmith of our abuse team will provide you with a background on pre-action protocols, how your organisation can be preparing for them, and how you can be ready, in the unfortunate event that a claim is made against your organisation, to handle it as quickly and compassionately as possible. 1 in 20 children in the United Kingdom have been sexually abused according to the latest report from the NSPCC. Year on year there have been similar disturbing rises in the number of reports of abuse of vulnerable and elderly people in the UK. Abuse is not limited to any one context or sector. Health and care service providers, sporting bodies, commercial and voluntary organisations are all exposed to such claims. The reputational consequences of handling these claims badly, particularly for smaller voluntary organisations could be devastating. Behind the scenes, judge led discussions between health, social care and education lawyers have been taking place about the possibility of a specific pre-action protocol for dealing with abuse claims. Two draft protocols are currently with the Civil Procedure Rules Committee. It is likely that something will emerge in the near future, and that will affect all organisations working with children and vulnerable adults, as well as their brokers and insurers.