Government Called to Change Injury Compensation System

The Government has been urged to implement changes to the personal injury compensation system as soon as possible.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) warned that the current compensation system was failing many claimants, as it was too slow, "riddled" with high legal costs and undervalued the rehabilitation of victims.
It said insurers wanted to pay compensation faster than the system allowed, with personal injury claims from motor accidents taking an average of two years to settle, while workplace ones took three years.
It has been joined by business group the CBI and Citizens Advice in its call for the Government to introduce the proposals it published last year for a faster and fairer system as soon as possible.
The ABI said during the past year 80% of the 250,000 motor accident personal injury claims received by insurers had been straight forward and non-contentious, but despite this it still took an average of 730 days to settle them.
It said if the Government proposals were introduced claims could be settled in just a quarter of this time.
It added that the spiralling legal costs arising from personal injury claims were impacting the cost of insurance, with 10% of every motor insurance premium taken in by the industry going to pay the legal profession.
Under the Government's proposals lawyers would have only five days to inform insurers about a claim after they have taken instructions.
Insurers would then have 15 days to decide if they were liable for a motor insurance claim and 30 days to decide for a employers' liability or public liability claim. They would also investigate claims themselves and negotiate a settlement if they decided they were liable, removing the need for lawyers to carry out their own investigation.
The Government also proposed setting out timescales within which both sides should try to agree a settlement, with the case referred to a district judge for a decision if they could not agree on time.