A row is brewing within the personal injury sector about the speed at which the courts can offer guidance on so-called ‘hybrid claims’.

Two cases being handled by Liverpool firm Robert James Solicitors have been granted permission to leapfrog the High Court and be heard in the Court of Appeal. The expedited claims could be heard as early as December. Both relate to RTA claims where the victim has mixed injuries – whiplash which is covered by a tariff of damages and others which are not.

Birkenhead County Court (pictured above) adopted the approach of reducing the overall award where there was an overlap of loss of amenity, applying a discount based on the extent of the overlap.

But the claims are not in the basket of cases being collected by a working group jointly led by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.

There now appears to be a gap in the sector between those who want guidance as quickly as possible and those who advocate waiting until a range of cases can address all areas of contention. There is even speculation that representative groups have applied to stay the claims, but APIL denies this.

One lawyer told the Gazette the current situation was ‘sclerotic’, with thousands of hybrid cases in limbo, hitting claimant firms’ cashflow. ‘More to the point, claimants either face a long wait for the test cases, or they decide to take the offer, which usually results in under-compensation,’ he added.

Ryan Siner, managing director of Robert James Solicitors, said the claims are relatively simple and should provide some certainty to the rest of the sector.

Rejecting the option of handing the claims over as part of a group, he added: ‘This is a signature part of our practice and it is important to our clients it is handled with the appropriate level of care.’

APIL president Brett Dixon said Robert James had every right to appeal its own cases but he suggested they would not provide the guidance that so many lawyers crave. ‘The Court of Appeal will want to manage all these cases together and deal with a block of issues,’ he said.