Insurers increase their call for personal injury claims reform
Insurers increase their call for personal injury claims reform
Tuesday, 25 Mar 2008 12:53
The insurance industry has intensified its call today for the Government to introduce proposals for reforming personal injury compensation.
The industry’s trade body, the Association of British Insurers (ABI), says the reforms proposed last year will enable personal injury compensation to be paid more quickly to injured people.
In April 2007 the Government published proposals for a faster and more cost efficient compensation system.
Implementing these proposals now would save 110 million working days a year in delays dealing with personal injury claims following motor accidents alone, says the ABI.
The Government’s proposals include:
Early notification of claim – claimant lawyers should notify insurers about a claim within five days of taking instructions from a claimant.
The setting of challenging timescales for insurers – who will have 15 days to decide if they are liable for a motor claim and 30 days for an employers’ liability or public liability claim.
A simple process to negotiate level of compensation – through defined timescales within which both sides should aim to agree settlement. Where agreement cannot be reached, the case will be referred to a district judge for a decision.
The ABI says that in the past year alone 200,000 of the 250,000 personal injury claims due to motor accidents would have been straightforward and non-contentious.
Stephen Haddrill, the ABI’s director general, said: “Our compensation system is failing many claimants. It is too slow, riddled with high legal costs and undervalues rehabilitation.
“Insurers want to pay compensation and arrange rehabilitation faster than the current system allows. Personal injury claims following a motor accident take on average two years to settle, with three years on average for workplace claims. This is unacceptable.
“The Government has grasped the need for reform. We look forward to implementation of their proposals without further delay. Every day without change is another day of unnecessary delay for claimants.”