The onward march of mandatory mediation continues, with plans to refer more cases automatically taking effect this week. 

The Ministry of Justice will begin a one-year trial for lower-value road traffic accident claims issued via the Online Civil Money Claims service. The pilot will exclude personal injury but include credit hire claims for a fixed sum.

The pilot is part of wider changes mandating the use of digital services for money claims. The Civil Procedure Rule Committee will run a public consultation on mandatory referral to mediation for this type of RTA claim during the pilot.

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Credit hire disputes take up a lot of court time. Ruling in Tescher last month on credit hire costs, Lord Justice Birss said that RTA cases take up a ‘significant’ volume of district judges’ trial work, with one claimant firm having, on average, 10 barristers in court every day.

Mandatory mediation will be welcomed by the credit hire sector, but with the proviso that sufficient expertise is available. 

The scheme is separate from the two-year small claims mediation pilot due to run until May 2026, where parties are automatically referred to a free, one-hour mediation session. RTA claims had been specifically excluded from the scope of this scheme, which was intended for businesses recovering debts or disputes over parking tickets.

Justice minister Sarah Sackman told parliament last month that the merits of mediation were ‘considerable’, but the government had no plans to make it mandatory in, for example, group claims.