MoJ claims process

The ‘exceptional circumstances’ test by which claimants whose cases exit the RTA portal can claim more than fixed recoverable costs is a high, rather than a low, bar, the High Court has held.

MedCo should be modified to accommodate unrepresented claimants as part of next year’s rise in the small claims limit for road traffic accident-related personal injury claims, the Ministry of Justice said today.

Claimants in low-value public liability cases are able to recover medical agency fees incurred in obtaining medical records, even though there is no express allowance in the CPR, a circuit judge has ruled.

A claimant whose solicitors failed to amend the gross settlement box in the Ministry of Justice portal while negotiating with the defendant insurer was stuck with the figure, a circuit judge has ruled.

The number of medical reporting organisations on the MedCo system has shrunk by a third in only eight months, it emerged last week. By the end of August 2018 there were 78 MROs in the system, compared with 120 at 31 December 2017.

There is confusion over whether solicitors can seek medical records for free by making subject access requests under the General Data Protection Regulation. The issue is becoming increasingly prominent, with the British Medical Association set to lobby the government over it.

Claimant lawyers are wrong to argue that product liability claims fall outside the protocol for low-value public liability claims, a defendant solicitor has said. Claire Laver said the scope of the protocol was clearly set out in its rules and included specific exceptions.

A High Court judge has allowed a bus company’s application for committal proceedings to go ahead against two former claimants who said they had serious whiplash injuries from a minor traffic collision, when CCTV showed otherwise.

A leading insurance company that had to appeal to the High Court to secure a finding of fundamental dishonesty in a personal injury claim said the case showed the industry needed “more support” from judges if they are to challenge fraudulent claims.

Premium increases, a fall in injury claims and the release of reserves for large claims due to an “improved outlook” on the discount rate made 2017 the best year for motor insurers since 1994, new figures have shown. They also predicted that motorists would save £35 from the Civil Liability Bill reforms.