In a written statement this week, the Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland QC said the government remained ‘firmly committed’ to the measures, which include raising the small claims track limit to £5,000 for road traffic injury cases, banning offers to settle prior to a medical report and introducing tariffs for claims. Last year, the Lord Chancellor delayed the reforms to April 2021.
Ian Davies, head of motor at insurance law firm Kennedys, said the additional delay was ‘sensible’.
‘All parties, be they lay claimant’s, claimant lawyers, insurers, claims handling companies or defendant law firms, will need at least three months to update and amend their systems to accommodate the new rules,’ he said.
‘What is urgently required are the rules themselves. The delay should not delay the release of the rules, the more time all parties have to consider the rules and implement system changes will make for a smoother implementation for all.’
Nigel Teasdale, past-president of the Forum of Insurance Lawyers (FOIL) and partner at DWF, said he believed the rules were likely to be published at the end of January or early February as the Civil Procedure Rules Committee have a meeting scheduled for 5 February, which would give the three-month period of preparation previously requested by all parts of the industry.
He said the delay was ‘not as long as some had predicted’.
Sam Elsby, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (Apil) said: ‘Work on the new system has been dangerously compressed to meet this artificial deadline, so we welcome any delay which is used to address our concerns about outstanding issues of critical importance to injured people.
‘We need to know exactly how the proposed new “bespoke” court process will replace ADR (alternative dispute resolution); we need to know the outcome of consultation with the Lord Chief Justice about the new whiplash tariffs, and there needs to be clarification about how mixed claims will be handled in the new system.’
