Whiplash Reform and the Official Injury Claim service

Justice Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 10 Feb 2023 Closed: 30 May 2024 Parliament page
The whiplash reforms, which formed part of the Civil Liability Act 2018, are a package of measures designed to reduce the disproportionately high number and cost of whiplash claims in England and Wales. As part of the reforms the Ministry of Justice commissioned the Motor Insurance Bureau to develop an … Read more
4 Recommendations
5 Conclusions
1 Report
Activity timeline 2 events
29 Nov
2023
Report published
20 Sep
2023
Report published
Recommendations & Conclusions
9 results
1 Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whiplash reform and…
Suspend whiplash reform inquiry pending Supreme Court ruling, noting early concerns regarding OIC service operation.
Given that some of the witnesses the Committee would have intended to call to give oral evidence are parties to the case of Hassam v Rabot to be heard by the Supreme Court in early 2024, and the centrality of … Read more
Ministry of Justice
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2 Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whiplash reform and…
Observe OIC portal's low usage by litigants in person due to limited awareness and confidence.
The OIC portal has been designed to support people who have suffered injuries from road traffic accidents to make a claim for compensation without the need for legal help. Initial estimates had suggested 30% of users would not have legal … Read more
Ministry of Justice
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3 Recommendation
Ninth Report - Whiplash reform and…
Require MoJ and Motor Insurers’ Bureau to research OIC portal awareness and user confidence
Whilst we accept that the majority of OIC users will continue to use legal representation, it is not clear to what extent a lack of awareness of the portal is responsible for the low number of unrepresented claims. Accordingly, we … Read more
Ministry of Justice
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4 Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whiplash reform and…
OIC portal continues to experience interface and integration problems for professional users
The OIC portal was designed with unrepresented claimants and users in mind, whereas as we have already noted the vast majority of the portal’s actual users are legal professionals. We are concerned to hear that a number of professional users … Read more
Ministry of Justice
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5 Recommendation
Ninth Report - Whiplash reform and…
Require MoJ to outline urgent resolution steps for OIC professional user technological problems
We appreciate that it takes time for new systems to ‘bed in’ and we are encouraged that the MIB continues to request and collate feedback from both direct and professional users of the OIC and that it is committed to … Read more
Ministry of Justice
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6 Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whiplash reform and…
OIC portal faces growing backlog of unresolved cases and increasing settlement times
We are concerned by the growing number of unresolved cases in the OIC portal, which now stands at 349,000. For the minority of cases that have reached a settlement to date, the average time taken to do so is 251 … Read more
Ministry of Justice
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7 Recommendation
Ninth Report - Whiplash reform and…
Require MoJ to investigate and publish findings on OIC portal unresolved cases and settlement delays
One of the objectives of the OIC portal was to simplify and speed up the process of making a claim for whiplash injuries. Whilst we acknowledge that the nature of the claims process is such that there will always be … Read more
Ministry of Justice
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8 Conclusion
Ninth Report - Whiplash reform and…
Whiplash reforms' impact on motor insurance costs remains difficult to determine
The Government estimated that the whiplash reform programme would remove more than £1.2 billion from the cost of providing motor insurance, and that these savings would be passed on to policyholders through lower premiums. However, whilst the total number of … Read more
Ministry of Justice
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9 Recommendation
Ninth Report - Whiplash reform and…
Ensure transparency for whiplash reform savings assessment and publish insurer submissions
We note the requirement in the Civil Liability Act 2018 for HM Treasury to report to Parliament in the 2024–25 financial year on the extent to which savings have been passed on to policyholders. Whilst we acknowledge that many factors … Read more
Ministry of Justice
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