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I sincerely doubt that secondary legislation will be enacted in the near-future in order to change the small claims limit. These reforms were essentially a package and Her Majesty's Government has rightly recognised that the country faces more pressing issues than reform to a system that is already working satisfactorily.

That said, I would urge my fellow claimant lawyers not to take it for granted that things will carry on as normal indefinitely. Instead, we need to do our bit in the fight against insurance fraud to show that we are on the public's side. This can be done by properly vetting claims and the individuals we represent. In the RTA arena, ASKCUE is a good way to take a provisional view on whether a firm wants to act for an individual (10 claims in 2 years would raise serious questions for example). We should also deal with clients who have been found to be fraudulent robustly (sue them under the CFA and if necessary petition for bankruptcy).

Finally, we need to repair the damage caused by scum like a certain Bolton firm or a practitioner recently jailed for insurance fraud. Our profession has been infiltrated by groups keen to exploit work generated by fraud gangs. The SRA know who the bad apples are and I would ask them to act quickly to avoid further scandal.