MORE ON MULTIPLE INJURIES, THE TARIFF AND TEST CASES

Official Injuries Claims have issued a release explaining the approach to test cases and multiple injuries.  This explains the collaborative approach being adopted to find test cases in claims where the injuries fall inside and outside the tariff scheme.

“neither the Act nor the Regulations directly address the question of how to value damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA) where a claimant suffers both a whiplash injury, to which a tariff will apply, and another injury to which no tariff will apply”

“To avoid detriment to claimants, insurer and claimant representatives have joined forces to seek clarity from the Court of Appeal on dealing with mixed tariff and non-tariff road traffic accident injury claims.

A cross-sector working group, facilitated by MIB, is working to create a framework to take forward a range of test cases with the aim of obtaining clarity on dealing with mixed injury claims from the courts. The group, with representation from APIL, ABI, MASS, and their respective members, will work together to seek guidance from the senior courts as quickly as possible now that Part 1 of the Civil Liability Act is in force. All share the common goal to avoid any detriment to injured claimants.

This work is needed as neither the Act nor the Regulations directly address the question of how to value damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity (PSLA) where a claimant suffers both a whiplash injury, to which a tariff will apply, and another injury to which no tariff will apply.

Unless and until definitive guidance on how to value the damages for PSLA is provided, all share concerns that it will be unclear how claims with overlap between tariff and non-tariff injuries should settle. Therefore, a collaborative test case process should aim to bring clarity as soon as possible.

The group is proposing a framework which covers: timing of the work; parameters for identifying suitable test cases; and interim compensation arrangements to ensure individual claimants are not disadvantaged by involvement in any test cases.

Ministry of Justice officials are aware of this proposal and support the principle of industry collaboration to improve the claims process for injured parties.

Further details on the progress to develop the framework will be shared in the near future.

Linford Wood House, 6-12 Capital Drive, Milton Keynes, MK14 6XT

Official Injury Claim is being delivered by the Motor Insurer’s Bureau (MIB) on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.”