There are mixed feelings among personal injury practitioners over the government's response to the Better Regulation Task Force's report Better Route to Redress.


While moves to regulate the accident management sector would be clearly welcomed, any increase in the small claims limit from £1,000 to £5,000 for personal-injury (PI) claims cannot be a fair and proper solution to tackling the current problems relating to the conduct of PI claims. Solicitors will be forced to turn away bona fide PI claims on economic grounds, leaving genuine claimants to fight their claims alone against powerful insurers who will be represented in the event of legal proceedings irrespective of whatever track the matter may be allocated to, creating an unlevel playing field.


Any solution should allow a framework that enables solicitors to conduct claims and be properly remunerated for doing so, rather than restrict access to the profession that would surely see more claims being handled directly by accident management companies, who are currently unregulated and identified as the chief protagonists of the perceived claims culture.


While the small claims PI limit of £1,000 has not been altered since 1991, there has been no corresponding increase in quantum of general damages in low-value PI cases. Furthermore, any concern relating to proportionality on costs is already being addressed by predictable fixed costs in road traffic accidents and this could be extended to other areas of low value PI claims both pre- and post-issue of proceedings.


Genuine claimants should not have to suffer at the expense of those claimants who may be bringing mischievous claims. The whole profession and claims management industry should recognise that it has a duty to ensure that claims without merit are not advanced to preserve and protect the rights of those that have meritorious claims.


Sheldon Davidson, Sheldon Davidson, Manchester