The House of Commons Justice Committee warned in a report in September, Whiplash reform and the Official Injury Claim Service, that about 349,000 claims in the Official Injury Claim (OIC) portal ‘remained unresolved’. The MPs said only ‘just over a quarter’ had reached settlement since the portal was set up in May 2021, and called on ministers to investigate the reasons for the delays.
Responding last week, the MoJ said the number of claims had grown to 385,000 as of 30 September. It said it is investigating all stages of the claims cycle and will publish additional data from January to help clarify the ‘impact of dormant claims on outstanding claim volumes’. It said there are ‘an increasing number of claims sitting on the system where no positive action to move them forward has been taken for some time and could, therefore, be considered as dormant’.
Sir Bob Neill MP, chair of the Justice Committee, welcomed the MoJ’s commitment to investigate but expressed disappointment at the ten per cent increase in claims since September.
‘One of the objectives of the OIC portal was to simplify and speed up the process of making a claim for whiplash injuries and it is vital that becomes a reality for all those using the system both represented and unrepresented.’
In its response last week, the MoJ said unrepresented claimants are settling their claims in about 167 days compared to 327 days for represented claimants. It found a ‘notable difference’ between the liability decision to first offer stage, which took on average 217 days for represented claimants and 74 days for unrepresented claimants. OIC data showed the average settlement amounts for represented and unrepresented claimants were £731 and £738 for whiplash and £952 and £981 for other injuries.
