Chris Pamplin looks at recent moves by the Ministry of Justice to control the whiplash claims industry & MROs
The UK has long been dubbed the whiplash capital of the world, and both the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the insurance industry have increased their efforts to quell the number of fraudulent claims that are proving a drain on the court system, insurers and those who pay a high price for their motor insurance, at least that is the reason they say they are acting.
So far as experts are concerned, the issues that have come under scrutiny include the level of fees charged for medical reports on soft tissue injuries and the quality and independence, or otherwise, of those experts commissioned to provide them. The independence of experts in this field has also been questioned in relation to the work carried out by medico-legal reporting organisations (MROs) and their occasionally overly close connections with the solicitors who instruct them.
Of course, in these frugal times, the MoJ is unlikely to miss
