The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has pushed back its controversial whiplash reforms by a year.
The reforms would introduce a tariff system for whiplash claims, ban settlements without medical evidence, and raise the small claims threshold to £5,000. An online portal would be introduced for the claims. Implementation had been due by April 2019.
However, the MoJ confirmed this week that full implementation is now scheduled for April 2020.
Vidisha Joshi, managing partner of Hodge Jones & Allen, said: ‘The proposed changes are unnecessary; the data shows that fraudulent claims have been decreasing as well as the overall number of claims. The government should use the delay as an opportunity to take stock, and properly examine this data and the impact on innocent people who need advocates to act in their best interests.’
