PRESS RELEASE:
11th April 2022

Responding to the publication today of the latest set of claims data (covering the four months from December 2021 to March 2022) from the Official Injury Claim (OIC) portal, Sue Brown, Chair of the Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS), made the following comments:

“With ten months of data from the OIC, the underlying trends are now clear.”

“Despite road traffic volumes being at near pre-Covid levels over the ten-month period (93% average for cars and 96% for all motor vehicles according to the DfT1), and in the absence of a sudden miraculous fall in the number of road traffic accidents occurring on our roads, the overall volumes of claims being made through the OIC remain very low. There were around 650,000 claims registered per year before 2020, but in the first ten months of operation, OIC has only registered 209,442. Such a dramatic fall cannot be attributed to the impact of Covid-19 and general economic factors, but must be associated directly with issues around the OIC and the new claims process.”

“The number of unrepresented claims going through the OIC remains consistently low at only 9% (or less in reality) of all claims. Given one of the primary purposes for the reforms and the establishment of the OIC was to encourage higher levels of self-representation, predicted at up to 30%, these levels remain very low.”

“The combination of low volumes of claims and the low numbers of unrepresented claimants strongly indicates that many accident victims are either unsure about how to make a claim, are reluctant to make a claim without representation or are unable to pursue a claim through the OIC. All of these conclusions carry concerns about the structure and fairness of the new claims process and need to be investigated thoroughly. Whilst the new system was designed to reduce the number of fraudulent claims, it was never the stated intention to reduce the number of accident victims able to make a claim for compensation by half.”

“It is also interesting to note that the number of claims exiting by reason of complex issues of law is surprisingly high, as complex issues of law tend to be quite rare in RTA claims.”

“Despite both MIB and the Ministry of Justice continuing to report that the process is working well, we are well aware that there are continuing problems with the interface between law firms wishing to represent accident victims and the OIC. Whilst MASS members report that the web interface works satisfactorily, for law firms doing high volumes of motor claims it is simply not an efficient way of handling claims. With no fully operational A2A available for the vast majority of firms, the current system continues to create significant difficulties for many.”

1. Transport use during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Notes for Editors

About MASS
The Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS) is the primary organisation representing road traffic accident solicitors acting for the victims of motor accidents. We represent around 100 solicitor firm Members throughout the UK, representing approximately 2,000 claims handlers, who handle an estimated 400,000 PI motor accident claims annually on behalf of the victims of those accidents.

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