The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) radical reforms to the personal injury claim process for road traffic accidents (RTA) are set to be rolled out at the end of this month.
On 30 April 2010 the new electronic portal for the transfer of information between solicitors and insurers, a fixed-cost structure and tighter deadlines will see a revolutionary shake up of the way claims for motor vehicle accidents are filed and processed.
The new RTA claims system could see claims – where liability is accepted – agreed within 30 days.
The new claims process will apply to road traffic accident (RTA) personal injury claims where the value of the claim is between £1,000 and £10,000.
The aim is to ensure that the process delivers fair compensation to the claimant as soon as possible. It provides for insurers to have early notification of the claim, with sufficient information to enable them to make a decision on liability, while recognising that there are steps that the claimant solicitor has to follow before notification can be given.
The aim, the MoJ explains, is for the process to be as clear and well defined as possible and to include fixed time periods and fixed recoverable costs.
Organisations who will face the impact of the changes were recently given an additional twenty four days to prepare for the MoJ RTA personal injury claims process reforms, the changes original set for implementation at the beginning of the month.
To enable organisations more time to test XML Schema interfaces, to the electronic communications portal developed to support adherence to the reforms, the new personal injury claims process for what is also being described as Low Value Road Traffic Accident Personal Injury Claims will now commence on 30th April 2010.
The portal, designed with input from insurers and lawyers, enables the swift electronic exchange of all relevant claim information and related documentation, including medical reports.
Access to the portal is available via a standard web browser route or by linking with the Web Server via Application-to-Application (A2A) interfaces to the internal applications, systems used by claimant representatives or defendant insurers, compensators.
In deferring the implementation date for the reforms, the MoJ was allowing additional time for organisations wishing to utilise the A2A portal interface option to test their system interfaces.
The extended implementation date also enables organisations to take the opportunity to bed in internal processes and train staff as appropriate.
A Project Steering Group (PSG), with an independent chairman and supported by IDSL, has been established to manage the development of the electronic communications portal. The
PSG is comprised of representatives from the Law Society, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS), the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the
Motor Insurers Bureau (MIB) and insurers.
The system is being developed by CRIF Decision Solutions Ltd (CRIF) to meet the Information Commissioner’s recommendations for secure transmission of electronic messages.
There is now only 15 days to go before the changes are implemented.
For more information visit: www.rtapiclaimsprocess.org.uk.
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