Commenting on the publication of the government's response to the 2023 consultation on 'Revisions to the Medical Reporting Process for Road Traffic Accident Claims', Matthew Maxwell Scott, Executive Director of the Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO), said:
"Despite it being almost 18 months since the original consultation, we still do not know when any inflationary increases to fixed costs medical reports will be implemented, other than 'in 2025'. Given that these were first set in 2014, that is a remarkable gap and one which may have done lasting damage to the confidence of the medico-legal sector.
"The number of medical reporting organisations has dropped precipitously in recent years, both as a result of fewer claims following the implementation of the Civil Liability Act but also because of the commercial challenges of operating in an environment where fees were fixed more than a decade ago.
"So while any inflationary increase in fees will be welcome when it comes in terms of ensuring the sustainability of the market and therefore the availability of medical examinations for injured people, it's entirely unclear why this is taking so long.
"This is a problem not just for medical reporting organisations but for all those who must operate with fixed fees which are not regularly reviewed. Across civil justice, the only consistent thing is inconsistency, with some costs, fees or disbursements uprated and others left where they are for many years.
"Where successive governments have intervened in civil justice they have all-too often then let things drift. The result is consumer detriment as firms cannot plan properly for the future and make the investments in people and processes they want to.
"Motor insurers can simply raise prices whenever they want to, and as can be seen from record high premiums, this is not something they are shy about doing. We hope that the ongoing motor insurance taskforce will acknowledge and examine the problems that sluggish government decision making can have, and note the imbalance that fixed costs can impose between defendant insurers and consumer representatives."