Medical reports: Fee has just gone up
There are now just nine tier 1 medical reporting organisations (MROs) available on MedCo after one resigned from the system citing payment delays among other issues.
Liverpool-based SK Medical Practice said it would continue to operate as an MRO outside of MedCo.
In a statement, it explained: “SK Medical Practice have taken the decision to discontinue their membership under the MedCo framework.
“Main reasoning relates to recoverability issues coupled with payment delays following the reforms, which coincide with future market uncertainty.”
The company declined to expand on this, but another issue is understood to have been the increase in the MedCo annual registration fee, which for tier one providers has increased this year from £90,000 to £112,500. For tier 2 MROs, it has increased from £12,000 to £15,000.
A series of changes came into force on 6 April 2025 following the outcome last year of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) consultation on medico-legal reforms.
These include the first increases in medical report fees since they were set in 2014. The £180 fixed fee for the initial report has now gone up to £226.
The lower level of claims since the whiplash reforms were implemented in 2021 meant the MoJ has reduced the qualifying criteria to be a national, tier 1 MRO from 40,000 medical reports a year and 225 active experts on their panel to 28,000 and 175 respectively. But they still need to have contracted medical experts in 80% of postcodes.
The ‘offer’ for represented claimants is two tier 1 and five tier 2 MROs or seven direct medical experts, has also been changed, with a further tier 2 MRO added “to ensure effective and lawful competition both between and across the tiers”.
This week also marked the 10th anniversary of MedCo’s launch, over which time the number of MROs registered has fallen significantly. From 120 in 2017, there are now 34 – the number of tier 1s had been steady for some time, with tier 2s the main casualties.
Research published last December nonetheless said the value of the medico-legal market grew by 4% in 2024, double the growth rate of the previous year, generating a market value of £674m.
A sector traditionally “populated by many small companies” was showing signs of consolidation, it said, with larger groups increasing their share of the market, often by acquisition.
