Commenting on the two-year anniversary of the government’s Official Injury Claim (OIC) portal for people making personal injury claims following a road-traffic collision, Matthew Maxwell Scott, executive director of the Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO), said:
“It is still very early days for the OIC portal after a rushed launch. One thing we have learned is that reforms of this complexity need in future to be implemented only when processes have been properly stress-tested.
“Great efforts have been made by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau to play catch up, with many of the OIC's teething troubles now resolved.
“However, consumer awareness of the OIC remains very limited, as evidenced by both low claims numbers compared with road-traffic data, which show that 2022 saw volumes at 97 per cent of pre-Covid levels, and only a tiny minority choosing to use the service as litigants-in-person. Ministers may well see this as a success, but if all it means is that genuinely injured people aren't receiving the compensation they are due, then they might want to temper their celebrations.
“Some issues remain. Difficulties in valuing mixed-injury claims were widely predicted and yet after two years we are no nearer to proper resolution. We must hope that the Supreme Court rejects the insurance industry's attempts to overturn the Court of Appeal judgments on this, or better still that the ABI itself chooses not to pursue this route. Injured people have already seen their rights dramatically reduced and attempts to restrict these this still further looks like the wrong call.
“A source of considerable concern is the rapid contraction in the number of legal firms and others who are able to represent injured people. Wafer-thin or non-existent margins explain much of this, but it leaves those making a claim through the OIC with less protection against under-compensation by insurers who are understandably keen on their own, rather less anaemic, margins.
“In terms of benefits to premium holders, we shall have to wait until the OIC's third birthday to see if the Financial Conduct Authority believes the £35 per policy savings have been delivered, but with even the ABI saying motor insurance costs are up 16 per cent year-on-year and Confused saying they're up 20 per cent - or £107 - over the last 12 months, £35 will seem like small beer to hard-pressed motorists.
“The OIC's other main purpose was to help tackle fraud, and here we continue to exist in an evidence vacuum, with no independently verifiable data to compare and contrast with two years ago. Clearly fraud is something we all want to see eradicated, but with the incentives to commit it now so small, we would need to see proof it remains a significant issue.
“Looking ahead, we continue to want all parts of this sector to work together to ensure better consumer outcomes. The whiplash tariff should to be reviewed to take into account inflation, the mixed-injuries conundrum needs to be resolved and efforts must be made to raise awareness of a service which is now the only route to redress for those who suffer minor injuries on our roads.
“The ongoing House of Commons Justice Select Committee inquiry into the whiplash reforms is an excellent opportunity for the ministers and insurance industry leaders who championed the changes to face proper scrutiny and disprove lingering doubts about the impartiality of the original decision-making process.”