MoJ claims process

A solicitor telling a client that they will deduct up to 25% of damages to cover costs not recovered in a low-value personal injury case amounts to informed consent, a regional costs judge has ruled.

Defendant firm Kennedys is now using artificial intelligence to assess medical evidence and recommend a damages figure for claims in the MoJ claims portal.

Claimant lawyers have attacked motor insurers for failing to pass on to consumers £367m in savings they have seen because of the impact of Covid-19 in reducing injury claims.

The number of motor insurance claims notified to insurers in the second quarter of 2020 fell by nearly half, but their value leapt by 31%, according to the Association of British Insurers.

A judge lambasted the preparation of low-value road traffic claims, describing them as “drivel” and saying “they are mostly prepared in a way which makes me ashamed of our profession”.

The overriding objective means that defendants can be prevented from taking advantage of claimant errors to achieve lower settlements in RTA portal cases, a judge has ruled.

Counsel’s fees for valuing claims which fall out of the personal injury protocols are not subject to fixed costs, the High Court has ruled, rejecting the argument that this led to an “absurd outcome”.

The Court of Appeal has overturned a decision to strike out a £2.2m personal injury claim which remained in the RTA portal for almost four years before the claimant’s solicitors sought to transfer it.

The doctrine of unilateral mistake cannot be used to set aside settlements in portal cases where the claimant solicitors erroneously included lower figures, two county court judges have ruled.

Insurers should look to “drive a wedge between claimant and solicitor” when dealing with late notified claims, which have spiked during lockdown, a counter-fraud specialist has argued.