The Ministry of Justice's (MOJ) paper was finally published last month in response to the Consultation paper upon Case Track Limits and the process for personal injury claims. Here, Simon Rosser, associate in the personal injury department explains what this means for people seeking claims.
"The consultation paper basically invited comments from a spectrum of interested parties with a view to improving claims to anyone unlucky enough to be involved in an accident, speed up the time for being awarded any entitled compensation and generally reduce any unnecessary costs and delays in the process.
"Input for the consultation was received from a number of interested parties including the legal profession (46%), insurance industry (20%), local authorities (13%), and from the Judiciary, trade unions and claims management companies, amongst others.
"A summary of the MOJ's response covers the following:
"At Leo Abse & Cohen, we welcome the MOJ's response to the consultation paper. Basically this means that all personal injury clients will benefit, as the changes mean a much faster processing of claims which LAC has the capacity to handle in view of its state-of-the-art claims management computer systems which have been in place for some time in anticipation of these changes.
"All of our staff has been trained in the use of the systems in preparation for these legal changes, meaning a seamless transition is possible to the benefit of our clients. This will result in our clients getting their claims processed and ultimately their damages much quicker than in the past, and solicitors firms which can deal with the changes should also benefit from improved cash-flow.
"We are also very pleased that the small claims limit remains at £1,000. This ensures that access to justice has not been reduced for ordinary members of the public unfortunate enough to have been injured in an accident. Had this limit been raised to say £5,000, then thousands of comparatively small claims could have been affected. Solicitors would not have been able to deal with them as it would have become uneconomical to do so, in view of the fact that only modest fixed costs are recoverable for small claims cases. Maintaining the small claims limit at £1,000 ensures thousands of our clients will continue to be granted the access to justice they deserve.
"It is also a huge relief and sensible decision for the MOJ to leave the funding of cases unchanged, as certainty in this area is essential for firms to implement realistic business models for budgeting and profitability, which is again essential if our clients are to benefit from the procedural changes in how claims are proceeded with.
"The new streamlined claims process will only apply to Road Traffic Accident (RTA) claims which have a value of between £1000 and £10,000, but according to the Ministry of Justice, this covers around 75% of all personal injury claims. For example, where liability is not an issue, the scheme will provide for quantum only disputes to be referred straight to a district judge to deal with, simply upon the papers if both sides agree, making the settlement process much faster.
"The entire timetable for progressing RTA claims has also changed. As soon as a claimants solicitor has all the necessary information to proceed with a case, such as the basis facts, and insurance funding information from the their client, the solicitor will have to send off a new notification of claim form within five days of obtaining the necessary information. The defendants then have only 15 days to respond with their decision on liability, with no extension of time being allowed.
"Under the current rules, a defendant has three months and 21 days in which to investigate and provide their decision on liability, so the new procedure really cuts months off the time a claimant needs to wait for a decision to be made on their claim. "If liability is accepted by the defendant, then the claimant's solicitor can obtain medical reports in the normal way, and provide a settlement pack to the defendants, with an offer to settle, and again the defendant has only 15 days to accept or reject the offer. Failure by the defendant to reply within the initial 15 day period means the streamlined process is exited and the claimant can issue proceedings in the normal way.
"Whilst employers liability and public liability and clinical negligence claims are excluded from this speedier process, the fast track limit has been increased from 15,000 to 25,000 giving the courts greater flexibility to deal with higher value cases, which again, may well speed up litigation for claimants in non RTA cases too, if higher value EL/PL claims can be dealt with in the fast claims track.
"There is also good news in relation to the way cases are funded. The MOJ has decided that no changes should be made to after the event insurance schemes (ATE) or when it should be taken out as the market in this area is still fragile and it will be able to adapt to these new proposals."
For further information about personal injury claims please call one of our team on 08459 006 007.