Commenting on the new user guide for the Official Injury Claim (OIC) portal, Matthew Maxwell Scott, executive director of the Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO), said:
"The [Ministry of Justice's (MoJ)] attempt to make the OIC portal user-friendly is welcome. I described the original 64-page users guide, published in April last year, as legal treacle, and so it proved to be. According to the latest data, only 9 per cent of claimants accessing the portal are unrepresented.
"This is a poor return on what was meant to be an improvement on the pre-reform claims journey, so any attempt to give consumers better information is good news. It would be useful to know whether the MoJ has tested the new guide with consumers and gathered feedback on ease of use. Were stakeholder groups with a consumer focus asked for their input? Fairer Finance, the Consumers' Association, Citizens Advice, ACSO and other bodies that champion consumers would have been a useful reference point for officials.
"Notwithstanding the new guide, public awareness of the reforms is still very low so we urge the MoJ to devote resources to a public education programme as a first step. Most people are clueless about these significant changes in their rights of access to justice.
"Furthermore, as a specific point, it is odd that officials have chosen to leave out the tariff tables in the updated guide, requiring users to refer separately to the Judicial College Guidelines and the tariff tables in the Statutory Instrument. It would be helpful to understand why it has not been possible to add the tables to the guide."