Personal Injury Reform:Update

Jennifer BourneAssociation of British Insurers

Personal Injury Reform

• On 21 July, the Government published a response to consultation on Case track limits and the claims form for personal injury claims

• They establish a new claims process for motor claims valued under £10k

Summary of Reforms

Case track limits• Small claims track limit remains at £1000• Fast track limit will increase from £15000

to £25000 Claims covered• New process will only cover motor claims

up to a value of £10K

Summary of ReformsClaims Form• A standard claim notification form introduced –

sets out minimum information required for insurer to make decision

• Solicitors have 5 days once all info gathered to complete form

Time Limits• Insurers have 15 days to communicate a

decision on liability• Extensions to time limits will not be permitted

Summary of Reforms

Binding decisions• Insurer admission of liability is

binding except where fraud• Where contributory negligence

alleged, claim falls out of process

Summary of Reforms

Fixed Costs• ATE premiums remain recoverable,

despite there being no insurable lossFixed recoverable costs will apply • This will not include referral feesAssessment tool for general damages• no longer being progressed

Summary of Reforms

Determining Quantum• New process to determine quantum

District Judge will determine if no settlement within fixed time period.

Part 36• This provision will remain, if a party has

made an unrealistic offer that leads to quantum hearing, they should be penalised.

Continued Engagementwith Government

Despite the application of the reforms to motor claims only, after consultation it was agreed that we should engage with the Government to ensure the reforms were implemented properly, particularly with regards to fixed fees.

MoJ Workshop

• MoJ workshop held on 28 Aug, with reps from insurance industry and claimant law firms to work through the detail of the new process

• The output of that meeting has been put to a larger working group for discussion in September/October for feedback / validation before finalisation.

Next StepsThere will be a further work in

September/October (date TBA).A number of work streams came out of

workshop, covering:• MIB process• Rehab• BTE• Settlement pack template and claim form

drop down menus

• Fee Costs for Stage 3 of process

Next Steps

Work Streams (continued)• appropriate level of claimant lawyer

to carry out required legal tasks within the new process, and how long that task should take

• The output from this discussion will then be fed back to the Advisory Council on Civil Costs