Commenting on the publication of the government's statutory review of the whiplash injury regulations, Matthew Maxwell Scott, executive director of the Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO), said:
"While it's welcome that the Lord Chancellor has finally published the uprated tariff, we still don't know when this will come into effect, given there is still an eight-week consultation with the Lady Chief Justice to come and then a parliamentary process to get through.
"The government needs to ensure the necessary statutory instrument is laid before parliament as soon as possible in 2025. As things stand, the tariff has been eroded considerably by inflation, as the Lord Chancellor acknowledges, and yet we still run the risk of the tariff not being revised until around four years after its original implementation. That seems grossly unfair on injured people who have already had to face significant erosion of their rights.
"We also still don't know whether the whiplash reforms have led to any of the promised savings for motorists, and so eagerly await the FCA report on this. In the meantime, and given record average premiums, the only winner seems to be the insurance industry.
"So the painful wait goes on not only for the new whiplash tariff but also for the government's long-awaited response to the 2023 medical reporting consultation. Medical experts have had their fees frozen for more than a decade, and if we want to ensure the health of this part of the legal market as well as of motor accident victims, this needs to happen without further delay.
"Fixed costs regimes and tariffs can all play a part in ensuring good outcomes and reduced costs for all parties in civil justice, but there needs to be certainty and consistency in how they are revised and uprated as necessary. Without this, those who might otherwise want to continue investing in this part of the market will be understandably reluctant to do so, and injured consumers will miss out as a result."
The report can be seen at https://www.gov.uk/government/