Deadline: firms must submit their applications by 16 February if they are to be processed


The government is braced for a flood of applications from businesses seeking authorisation to be claims managers ahead of next week's deadline, its head of claims management regulation Mark Boleat said this week.



Current figures suggest that more than 700 businesses will ultimately seek authorisation - at the top end of the Department for Constitutional Affairs' (DCA) expectations.



Application forms must be submitted by 16 February for firms to be sure they will be processed in time for compulsory authorisation, which is likely to come into force in April. Figures released this week showed that 218 forms had been processed by 29 January, while 316 had been partially completed by applicants but not yet submitted. A further 300 blank forms have been downloaded from the DCA's claims management website.



While law firms are exempt from requiring authorisation to carry out claims management activities, separate law firm marketing arms are required to apply. A list of the organisations that have been authorised so far was published on the website this week and includes law firm marketing arm Injury Lawyers 4U, run by Manchester firm Amelans.



Mr Boleat said: 'We anticipate there will be more than 700 applications in total, which is at the upper end of expectations, but we are well able to handle them. Around 70 have been authorised so far, and the numbers will go up very quickly in the next few weeks.'



Mr Boleat added that the claims management division is able to track the status of forms that have been downloaded from the website. He said: 'This gives us an indication of our likely workload, but it also means we know a firm is in the market and has begun to apply. If it does not complete the form, we may follow up on this.'



Andrew Twambley, chairman of the Claims Standards Council and co-founder of Injury Lawyers 4U, said it was good that so many people were coming forward and acknowledging that they carry out claims management activities. He said: 'Come April, the blame will be on solicitors if they do not check that all sources they are gaining work from have an authorisation certificate. The new regime will mean everyone knows who the real people are behind the business.'



He added: 'I suspect there will be less than 700 businesses authorised in April - a lot will not make the grade.'



Link: www.claimsregulation.gov.uk



Rachel Rothwell