Summary
"UK Personal Injury Litigation 2018", report is an in-depth study into the claims landscape of the personal injury market, which covers motor, employers’ liability, public liability, and clinical negligence. It explores the change in claims numbers over time and in relation to reforms such as LASPO. It also discusses upcoming regulatory change such as the Civil Liability Bill and the Ogden discount rate, and the future impact these will have in the personal injury space. The role of claims management companies and solicitors is explored, and the report has chapters focused on motor, employers’ liability, and public liability as specific areas of personal injury.
The personal injury market is set to undergo further reform, with both the government and regulators keen to crack down on the growing compensation culture that has become particularly evident in the motor claims market. Attempts to reform the claims landscape through the LASPO Act - which came into force in 2013 - had a limited impact. The government has responded by proposing further reforms through the Civil Liability Bill, which focuses heavily on claims relating to whiplash injuries caused by road traffic accidents.
Scope
- The total number of personal injury claims recorded in 2017-18 fell by 16.9% to 813,615 - the lowest number of recorded claims in the last eight years.
- Motor injury claims are still the most common form of personal injury claim, accounting for 79.8% of total personal injury claims in 2017-18. While this is unlikely to change drastically, the incoming Civil Liability Bill is targeted towards reducing the number of motor-related personal injury claims.
- Holiday sickness-related claims were previously considered to be a potential “new whiplash” by insurers, with fears claims management companies would look to exploit legal loopholes relating to fee caps. However, regulators responded quickly to prevent a sudden surge in these claims.
Reasons to buy
- Be prepared for how upcoming legislation will impact personal injury insurers, claims management companies, and solicitors.
- See how claims numbers are changing across the personal injury market and by specific insurance type.
- Discover emerging areas of personal injury claims.
Companies Mentioned
ABTA
Aviva
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Table of Contents
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2
1.1. Market summary 2
1.2. Key findings 2
1.3. Critical success factors 2
2. THE PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS MARKET 7
2.1. Introduction 7
2.2. Reforms are set to shake up the personal injury market 7
2.2.1. Changes to calculating the Ogden discount rate are set to benefit insurers 7
2.2.2. The Civil Liability Bill paves the way for the introduction of injury tariffs 8
2.2.3. Pre-medical offers will no longer be available on RTA whiplash claims 9
2.3. Proposed RTA claims changes will increase the Small Claims Track limit 10
2.4. Summary of proposed changes 10
2.5. The impact of LASPO on the claims market 11
2.5.1. The number of claims has continued to fall post-LASPO 11
2.5.2. Motor-related injuries are the main driver of personal injury claims 13
2.6. Claims dropped considerably in 2017-18 compared with the previous 12 months 14
3. FRAUD IN THE PERSONAL INJURY MARKET 15
3.1. Fraudulent claims are a major concern - but the number of detected cases fell slightly in 2016 15
3.1.1. Fraud in the personal injury space is well documented 16
4. CMCS FACE GREATER SCRUTINY 18
4.1. CMCs will be regulated by the FCA 18
4.1.1. The number of authorized CMCs continues to fall 18
4.1.2. CMCs will likely diversify in search of new claims markets 20
4.1.3. CMCs are facing closer examination than before 20
5. PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS IN FOCUS: MOTOR 22
5.1. Total recorded motor claims have dropped by almost a fifth 22
5.1.1. Recorded claims fell by over 100,000 in 2017-18 22
5.2. The number of accidents on UK roads continues to fall 23
5.2.1. RTAs continue to decrease as UK roads get safer 23
5.2.2. Despite the falling number of RTAs, average premiums continue to rise 24
5.3. The motor claims market is most likely to be impacted by reforms 27
5.3.1. The Civil Liability Bill is targeted towards the motor claims market 27
5.3.2. Technology will impact the motor claims market considerably 27
6. PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS IN FOCUS: PUBLIC LIABILITY 28
6.1. Claims related to public liability increased in 2017-18 28
6.1.1. The number of claims recorded increased for the first time in four years 28
7. PERSONAL INJURY CLAIMS IN FOCUS: EMPLOYERS’ LIABILITY 31
7.1.1. Employers’ liability claims have continued to fall 31
7.1.2. The total number of settled employers’ liability claims has tumbled 34
7.1.3. Workplace injuries are continuing to decline 34
8. APPENDIX 37
8.1. Abbreviations and acronyms 37
8.2. Bibliography 37
8.3. Further reading 38
List of Tables
Table 1: New tariffs to be introduced for RTA soft tissue injury claims 9
Table 2: Summary of proposed changes to the UK claims market 11
Table 3: UK claims recorded and settled, 2010-18 12
Table 4: Growth in total claims recorded and settled, 2016-18 14
Table 5: The number of authorized CMCs operating in the UK and market turnover, 2011-17 19
Table 6: The growth of average premiums and claims in the motor insurance market, 2013-17 26
Table 7: The total number of public liability claims recorded and settled, 2010-18 30
Table 8: The total number of employers’ liability claims recorded and settled, 2010-18 33
List of Figures
Figure 1: The introduction of LASPO stifled growth in the number of claims recorded 12
Figure 2: Motor injuries dominate the claims landscape 13
Figure 3: The volume of claims fraud is considerably higher in a post-LASPO market 16
Figure 4: The number of authorized CMCs continues to decline 19
Figure 5: The number of visits undertaken by the CMR fell in 2016-17 21
Figure 6: Total motor claims recorded fell considerably in 2017-18 23
Figure 7: The number of RTAs continues to fall 24
Figure 8: Average motor premiums continue to increase 25
Figure 9: The public liability claims market experienced an increase in the number of claims 29
Figure 10: Employers’ liability claims continued to fall in 2017-18 32
Figure 11: The average cost of claims for the employers’ liability market continues to fall 34
Figure 12: The number of workplace injuries continues to decline 35
Figure 13: Over the review period both injuries lasting over seven days and major injuries declined 36
