Claims in the online whiplash portal are now taking almost six months on average to settle, as numbers of claims overall continue to be historically low.

Official Injury Claim’s latest data for the period from April to June this year shows that the average time from claim to settlement was 175 days, up from 139 days in the previous period.

One of the major selling points for the portal, which launched in May 2021, was that it would provide quicker and more efficient routes to justice. OIC said the latest increase was to be expected as cases settle with more complex injuries and longer prognoses.

But there also remains a massive cohort of cases that are difficult to settle because they involve claims for whiplash – subject to a fixed compensation tariff – and claims for whiplash and other injuries, which do not. Around two-thirds of claims are ‘multiple injuries’ cases, with just 30% in the last quarter being whiplash only. The government said when it started the portal that the issue of mixed claims would need to be determined in the court, but a suitable test case has yet to be found.

Overall, 70,718 claims were reported to OIC from April to June this year, of which more than 90% were from a represented claimant. The system was engineered specifically for litigants in person.

Earlier this month, MedCo, the organisation through which all whiplash diagnosis is handled, relaxed the rules around experts having to provide a 24-hour answering service for LiP claimants who could only phone out of office hours. MedCo said the volume of work from unrepresented claimants had been expected to be ‘significant’ but had proved to be at a much lower level.

Critics point out that the number of claims in the last quarter is well down on the 101,679 whiplash claims registered with the Claims Recovery Unit during the same period in 2021. This is despite vehicle use being back up to near-normal levels.

Matthew Maxwell Scott, executive director of the Association of Consumer Support Organisations, said the latest data showed that the system may be reducing claims but is suffering from rising delays.

He added: ‘While more complex claims explain some of that increase, 36% of claimants waiting for more than six months to have their claim settled is no advertisement for what we were promised would be a state-of-the art-digital journey, built around the needs of the consumer.’

Meanwhile, the government’s pre-portal pledge that motorists would save an average of £35 on their car insurance through the reforms appears likely to be unfulfilled.

Accountancy giant EY analysed the insurance sector and has concluded that while insurers' profits were up in 2021, this is likely to be short-lived. Indeed, the firm says that inflation will push premiums up by 2% this year and by 18% in 2023. The insurance sector, which funds the OIC, is due to report at the end of next year about what savings it has been able to achieve through the reforms.

 

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