There are a “growing number” of unresolved cases in the Official
Injury Claim (OIC) Service portal, which now stands at 349,000,
the Justice Committee has warned, as it called on the Ministry of
Justice to investigate the backlog.
A report by the cross-party committee of MPs raised concerns that
only “just over a quarter” had reached settlement, despite the
system being set up in May 2021 as part of the Government’s
Whiplash Reform Programme to reduce the disproportionately high
number and cost of whiplash claims in England and Wales.
The Justice Committee’s report highlights that for the minority
of cases that have reached a settlement to date, the average time
taken to do so is 251 days and is predicted to increase further
as more complex cases, which have taken longer to reach
conclusion, begin to settle.
The latest monitoring data for OIC up to 30 June 2023 showed that
568,214 claims had been submitted since its launch, and only
146,626 had reached settlement to date—just over a quarter.
In addition, 72,141 claims had exited the portal for a reason
other than settlement, of which 8,023 had gone to court. This
means that approximately 349,000 cases remained in the portal
pending a resolution—up from just under 212,000 at the same point
in 2022.
For those claims that do reach settlement, the latest monitoring
data shows that in the quarter to 30 June 2023, it took an
average of 251 days for a claim to reach settlement—up from 238
days in the previous quarter, and 227 days before that.
In its report, the Justice Committee raised concerns in relation
to the operation of the OIC service to date which were
highlighted in the written evidence it received.
Despite having been designed for claimants to use without the
need for legal representation, of the total number of claims
submitted via the portal since its inception, 56,064 (10%) of
claims were brought by unrepresented claimants, whilst 514,150
(90%) of claimants had legal representation.
The report noted the low proportion of unrepresented claimants
using the OIC portal reflects both the “complexity of the process
for claimants attempting to navigate it by themselves and a lack
of awareness of the new process”. One submission branded it a
“policy failure”.
The report concluded “it is not clear to what extent a lack of
awareness of the portal is responsible for the low number of
unrepresented claims”. It recommended that the MoJ and Motor
Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) conduct research to better understand this
and whether steps to improve awareness of the OIC portal and
user-confidence in the system would encourage more litigants in
person.
Evidence submissions also expressed concern about the lack of
system integration between the OIC portal and existing case
management systems used by legal professionals.
The report recommended it is “vital that any
technological problems which professional users of the OIC face
that affect efficiency, accuracy or timeliness are resolved as a
matter of urgency”. The Committee added the MoJ should set out
what steps it is taking in conjunction with the MIB to address
these concerns, and when it expects them to be resolved.
The Chair of the Justice Committee, Sir MP (Con, Bromley & Chislehurst), said:
“One of the objectives of the OIC portal was to simplify
and speed up the process of making a claim for whiplash injuries.
“Whilst we acknowledge that the nature of the claims process is
such that there will always be a stock of cases in the portal at
different stages in the claims lifecycle, and that some will take
longer to reach a resolution than others, we recommend the MoJ
investigates further the reasons for the growing number of
unresolved cases and the deterioration in the timeliness of
reaching settlement, and publishes its findings by the end of the
year.”
“It should also include an analysis of timeliness in comparison
to how equivalent cases previously progressed in the MoJ’s Claims
Portal and of the apparent disparity in settlement times between
represented and unrepresented claims.”
The report also noted the Government had estimated that the
savings made by insurance companies under the whiplash reforms,
would lead to a reduction in motor insurance premiums by
approximately £35 per policy. However, the majority of the
evidence submissions received noted that motor insurance premiums
have continued to rise.
The report concluded it was vital that the direct effect of the
whiplash reforms is properly assessed, recommending that given
the reforms are still bedding in and the large number of cases
still awaiting settlement, the Government conduct a follow-up
assessment one year after the publication of its planned review
in 2024-25.
Notes to editors
As part of the whiplash reforms, the Ministry of Justice
commissioned the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) to develop an
online portal; Official Injury Claim, for managing low value road
traffic accident claims.
Official Injury Claim (OIC) is a free and independent service
designed to support individuals who have suffered minor injuries
arising from an RTA to claim compensation, without the need for
legal help.
This inquiry examined the effect of these reforms on the number
of minor personal injury claims to date. It also looked at how
the OIC service operates and considered whether it ensures access
to justice.
The inquiry also examined to what extent the measures met the
Government’s objective of reducing the cost of whiplash claims to
the economy and to what extent any savings are being passed on to
motorists through lower insurance premiums.
