“We urge the government not to be passive in the face of these troubling statistics and conduct a full review of the Official Injury Claim portal after its first year of operation to see how it can be made to work better for injured people.”
Those were the words of First4Lawyers managing director Qamar Anwar following the release of Official Injury Claim (OIC) data for the September 01 to November 30 period.
Here are the headline numbers, according to the OIC service:
|
Category |
Total |
|
Overall claims volume |
68,359 |
|
Represented claims |
62,126 |
|
Unrepresented claims |
6,233 |
|
Liability decisions |
42,131 |
|
Settlements |
3,468 |
In its 12-page report, the service noted: “The overall percentages of represented and unrepresented claimants remain consistent with the first quarter of operation.
“Represented claimants are being supported by a range of different types of organisations, including law firms, alternative business structures (ABSs), appropriately authorised claims management companies, and others.”
Broken down, 75.3% of the represented claims in the period were through law firms; 24.5%, via ABSs.
“Damages for whiplash only and whiplash plus minor psychological injury are determined by the tariff under The Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021,” reads the OIC report. “20,585 (31%) of claims presented in this period were covered solely by the tariff, and 42,173 (64%) are mixed claims including both tariff and other injuries.”
For Anwar, “there is nothing” cheer-worthy in the latest set of figures.
“Once again, fewer than one in 10 claims were brought by litigants in person and only a third of cases involved just whiplash injuries, while settlements of presumably simple cases are taking nearly three months – the only improvement on the old system has been to insurers’ bottom lines,” he said in a statement sent to Insurance Business.
“We urge the government not to be passive in the face of these troubling statistics and conduct a full review of the Official Injury Claim portal after its first year of operation to see how it can be made to work better for injured people.”
Meanwhile, also not entirely pleased is Matthew Maxwell Scott, executive director of the Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO).
The ACSO official commented: “While much of the broader trend data is unremarkable, it is becoming ever-clearer that the ‘user-friendly’ OIC portal promised by ministers is complex, legalistic, and difficult for claimants to use without professional support.
“Unrepresented claimants remain fewer than one in 10 of the total, and one in three of those then exit the portal because they find it too complex. These numbers do not support the view that this is a process that is fit for purpose.”
