First data suggest Official Injury Claim service isn’t helping motorists or courts

More than 90% of injured motorists still needed professional help to navigate the complex new online process required to make a claim.

Liability denied for 11% of represented claimants

Only 436 claims have been settled since the service launched on 31 May

David Haynes, Underwriting Director at ARAG:

“The successive delays in implementing the Civil Liability Act should have provided enough time to deliver a solution that works for all parties. It is clear from this first data to be released from the Official Injury Claim (OIC) operation, that the injured motorists who should have been at the centre of this process have been failed.

The fundamental stated role of the OIC service is to make ‘…the claim process simple, unbiased and secure so you can claim for minor injuries yourself for free without legal help.’ Aside from the security aspect, it appears to have failed so far, in every respect.

Far from being simple, it is too complex for most motorists to use independently, liability seems much more likely to be denied for represented claimants and many cases are going to end up joining the huge backlogs in the courts.

The major issue of so-called ‘hybrid’ injuries still remains unresolved but, from our perspective, the fundamental failure of OICs is that it reinforces the disparity of arms between injured motorists and well-resourced defendants. As a result, justice is being wholly undermined.”

Authored by ARAG