Users of the expanded new claims portal will have to wait until the end of September for the more efficient method of registering a case.

Last week use of the portal was extended to include employers’ and public liability claims, in addition to RTA claims.

Claimants and defendants have two ways to access the portal. Either they go directly through a web browser or by using software that connects users’ own internal system to the portal – known as Application to Application (A2A).

The portal operator has now confirmed that the A2A option will only be available for EL/PL claims from the end of September.

A2A does not make the process any quicker, but it does allow firms to file claims more efficiently with shortcuts for registering cases. It is currently available for RTA claims.

The upgrade was restricted to two phases because of the short timescale given to extend the portal for a wider range of cases.
 Any organisation wishing to process EL/PL claims before September can still do so via the web.

Meanwhile, the portal has received a clean bill of health in its half-year service report, released today.

The portal was available in core service hours 100% of the time, aside from a minor setback in March.

In terms of performance times, the portal met its target of a response within three seconds in every one of the first six months of 2013.

The portal has 3,474 registered organisations, of which 3,226 are claimants, with 31,658 users in total.

The number of claim notification forms created in June was 58,497 – an 8% increase on May’s figure but down 6% on the same period in 2012.