Lawyers handling claims in the two-year-old whiplash portal experience technical problems at every stage of the process, MPs have been told.

The House of Commons justice committee this week published evidence provided for its inquiry into the whiplash reforms and the Official Injury Claim portal, which went live in May 2021.

The submissions include a scathing critique of the new system by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, which says the government’s commitment to making the portal accessible to litigants in person has backfired given that most claims are made by professional users.

‘This lack of foresight meant that not enough work took place to ensure the OIC portal would integrate smoothly with the case management systems of different law firms,’ APIL said.

‘Without this integration, information about a claim must be entered separately into two systems. This increases the workload, which is neither efficient nor cost effective. If the work is not cost effective, law firms will be unable to continue in this area of work, which will leave injured people without legal support.’

Lawyers have reported claims forms being rejected because a national insurance number had a space included, offers to settle being sent by the insurer but not received by the claimant, or the amount being offered having changed by the time it is received.

APIL points out that unrepresented claimants appear to have their own problems trying to use the portal. Its analysis found that between the portal’s launch and the end of 2022, unrepresented claimants made 24,478 calls for support. During that time 38,438 claims were made by unrepresented claimants, which means that for every 10 unrepresented claimants, more than six calls are being made for help.

The average time for settling a claim has also increased from 130 days in January 2022 to 240 days a year later.

Jonathan Scarsbrook, APIL president, said: ‘The bottom line is that policyholders’ legal rights have been severely curtailed, and they are not even getting anything in return. Slashing compensation in an arbitrary way and attempting to make injured people represent themselves against well-resourced insurers through the new portal was unfair and misdirected from the start.’

Jonathan Scarsbrook, APIL’s president

Scarsbrook: 'Policyholders’ legal rights have been severely curtailed'

The justice committee is likely to call on live evidence from witnesses before making a report on the whiplash reforms.

Several claimant and defendant firms have also submitted written evidence as well as representative groups.

The Association of His Majesty’s District Judges said its members have found the system ‘complex and difficult to understand’.

It added: ‘Forms and paperwork required to be filed are more complex than the process previously used for these claims (the Stage 3 process). It should be noted that the Stage 3 process is still used for small claims value road traffic accidents that involve vulnerable road users and various other defined categories of claimant. Those cases remain more efficient currently.’

 

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