Cases going through the personal injury portal set up to simplify the process are now routinely taking more than a year to settle.

The latest figures from Official Injury Claim show that in December the average lifecycle of a case where the litigant was represented was 386 days. This was a 25% increase on the first month of 2024. The 170-day average time in December to settle a claim with a litigant in person was a 31% rise from January.

There were 7,408 settlements in December 2024 compared with almost 8,800 a year earlier.

The portal was set up in 2021 for RTA claims valued at less than £5,000 and was intended to be a simpler way of settling claims for represented and unrepresented claimants. But with delays increasing in every quarter bar one since the service started, lawyers are asking how bad the delays will have to get before there is a rethink.

Whiplash x-ray

Whiplash x-ray: 69% of claim types were for whiplash and another injury

Andrew Wild, head of legal practice at First4InjuryClaims, said: ‘Teething problems were blamed at the start, but we are now more than three years down the line and the wait just keeps getting longer. There is also no one policing poor behaviour in the portal. For example, we still deal with insurers low-balling us or dragging their heels when it comes to making an offer, despite the Supreme Court having provided clear guidance on how to value so-called mixed injuries.’

The issue of mixed claims, where whiplash is subject to a tariff but damages for other injuries can vary, has been a problem since the OIC was created. The final quarter of last year showed that 69% of claim types were for whiplash and another injury, while just 28% were whiplash only.

Sara Errington, customer operations lead for the OIC, acknowledged that the time taken for claims to settle is increasing but said this is not necessarily a sign of the system failing. Delays are in part due to the system not being updated, she said. The OIC has contacted law firms and insurers to help reduce dormancy and to get a better understanding of how live claims are tracking through the system.