Whiplash: Motor-related injury claims at all-time low
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has launched a call for evidence to inform its review of the whiplash reform programme (WRP), including operation of the Official Injury Claim (OIC) portal.
But it made clear that the damages tariff was not up for debate, given that it was uprated by around 15% earlier this year – even though defendants had expected a higher figure.
“This government is committed to ensuring that regulation supports growth, delivers value for money, and fulfils our promise to control the cost of car insurance. We want to ensure the law is working as intended,” the call for evidence said.
It noted that the impact assessment for the reforms – which led to the Civil Liability Act 2018 – had estimated that insurers would pass on savings to motorists of £1.1bn a year, or around £35 on average per policy.
However, figures released in March by HM Treasury showed the reforms saved policyholders £31 in premiums across the first three years of their operation.
Soon after, the government committed to begin a post-implementation (PIR) review of the reforms in the latter half of 2025, which now starts with the call for evidence.
It said: “This review will assess the WRP’s effectiveness in achieving its stated aims of reducing the high number and cost of whiplash claims along with other related issues such as disincentivising unmeritorious whiplash claims, ensuring proportionate payment for whiplash injuries, maintaining access to justice and improving claimant choice.”
The original stated goal of the reforms was actually to reduce the number of fraudulent claims, but that has been downplayed over the years.
But the call cautioned that, as they have recently been considered and approved by Parliament, the MoJ will not conduct “a further assessment of the tariff values” as part of the PIR.
Sarah Sackman, the minister for courts, said: “Being involved in a car accident can be traumatic – the shock, pain, and disruption to a person’s life can be overwhelming.
“The reforms reduce the cost of making a claim, while ensuring those who are genuinely injured receive proportionate compensation. They’re designed to safeguard access to justice and help people get the support they need to rebuild their lives.
“We are now reviewing these reforms and welcome any views in our call for evidence to help us understand their impact and ensure they’re working for those who need the support.”
Law Society vice president Brett Dixon saw the PIR was “an important opportunity”.
He explained: “We remain concerned about the length of time it takes to resolve road traffic claims, particularly those involving whiplash injuries. With average settlement times now reported to be exceeding 600 days, there are serious questions about how cases are being managed within the portal.
“We hope this review will provide a clear picture of what is working and where improvements are needed, so that people with injuries are receiving fair and timely outcomes.”
The latest OIC data actually puts average settlement times at 404 days, down from a peak of 612 in June, when there was a focus on dealing with cases sitting dormant in the system.
Sue Brown, chair of the Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS), described the current process as “deeply flawed”.
She went on: “Access to justice has been eroded, and there is considerable inequality of arms in favour of defendants. Many claimants struggle to navigate complex systems without adequate representation.
“We believe there are a range of measures that could make the process fairer for injured motor accident victims and shift the pendulum of justice back to the centre.
“Most of the policy objectives set out by ministers in the last government have not been met. In opposition, Labour opposed some of the central planks of the Civil Liability Act — and we hope that the principles and injustices highlighted then will spur the government to make the process fairer and more balanced going forward.”
As well as failing to reduce insurance premiums as predicted, other promises MASS said the WRP had failed to deliver included consequences for insurers if they failed to pass on savings to customers, and an online portal that worked for unrepresented claimants.
The proportion of claims registered on the OIC by litigants in person was 11.6% in the most recent figures.
Matthew Maxwell Scott, executive director of the Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO), said: “While the Ministry of Justice’s appetite to make any meaningful improvements to the whiplash programme, for example through improving the governance of the OIC portal, may be limited, we all need to take the opportunity to provide feedback, raise concerns and remind the government of its policy aims.
“Not least of these was that the reforms were meant to reduce claims numbers and therefore save motorists money. There, the report card is mixed, in that claims have indeed fallen precipitously but few of the savings have been passed on by insurers…
“With the motor insurance taskforce report looming, we should be wary of any further promises that prove to be built on sand and instead ask officials to focus on making what already is in place work much better.”
The most recent figures from the Compensation Recovery Unit, obtained by ACSO, showed that the third quarter of this year saw an all-time low of motor-related injury claims registered in a quarter – 71,849.
In the same quarter in 2018, the year the government started releasing quarterly numbers, it was 169,217.
The call for evidence closes on 22 December and the PIR due to be published next spring.
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