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How will this materially change the 11.5 years average length of time for compensation to be paid if CPR21 still reads:

"no settlement, compromise or payment (including any voluntary interim payment) and no acceptance of money paid into court shall be valid, so far as it relates to the claim by, on behalf of or against the child or protected party, without the approval of the court."

Surely, in the event of a formal claim, the Court will still want "to wait until the injured child’s prognosis is clear to decide a full and final settlement" [from the article].

With that in mind, the cynic in me says that this has the hallmarks of a system designed to skim off would-be claimants from the system early on and before they are able to take independent advice, with the hope of forestalling a formal claim ever coming in through the expedient of a quick payment of a few (dozen?) grand early-doors.

The ill-informed will simply walk away, believing themselves happy with what in effect amounts to just a small proportion of the true value of the claim. Its stated goal after all is to "act as an alternative to ‘costly’ legal processes". It aims to be quicker and cheaper, yet the only way it can achieve either is if no claim is ultimately brought before the courts.