As professional drivers covering very high mileages, taxi operators have a higher than average risk of encountering a non-fault accident.
Even if the other driver is insured, you may need assistance to protect your no-claims bonus, and if necessary we can ensure that you get access to a plated replacement vehicle, and help you to recover lost earnings.
Legal costs can be punishingly high. Don’t get caught out.
Call the Jenkinson team now 01709 837008
The 2021 Personal Injury Reforms
Why?
Over a number of years now, companies have been lobbying to the government about the associated costs to a whiplash claim, to combat these, the government has granted a complete overhaul as to how the personal injury market will work as of 31st May 2021. The reforms will simply prevent whiplash claims being pursued without a medical report or pre-medical settlement offers, therefore the hope is that the number of claims will reduce and more importantly, reduce fraud.
Will compensation still exist?
In short, Yes – the claimant will still receive compensation but their award for injury will be significantly lower as it is today.
As it stands, a personal injury must have a minimal value of £1000 for an acting solicitor to represent the claimant anything less than this then there is no entitlement to recover costs. 31st May 2021 will see the claims limit increase to £5000 for whiplash claims meaning that associated costs relating to a solicitor representing the claimant will not be recoverable, the exception here is that for claims that do not involve whiplash, the small claims limit will be set at £2000.
Further to the above, what we believe to be the most significant change to the reforms is the introduction of a fixed tariff system which will massively reduce the compensation payable to the claimant.
The confirmed tariff has yet to be confirmed but is likely to be as follows:
Duration of Injury (Months) / Tariff Current / Compensation
0 – 3 £235 Up to £2,150
4 – 6 £470 £2,150 – £3,810
7 – 9 £805 £2,150 – £3,810
10 – 12 £1250 £2,150 – £3,810
13 – 15 £1910 £3,810 – £6,920
16 – 18 £2790 £3,810 – £6,920
19 – 24 £3910 £3,810 – £6,920
What does this mean?
The government and MOJ have developed a new claims portal which will allow a claimant to pursue their own claim against the at fault insurer but to date there are a number of question marks over how easy and fluid the portal is. For reference, the portal have been named ‘litigants-in-person’ (LiP).
A new importance of a Before-the-Event (BTE) policy?
Given the mass overhaul in how the personal injury world will work, there is now a concern on how many claimants will be able to pursue a claim given their lack of knowledge in this area. To assist navigation in this area, there now will be a need for the client to have a BTE policy to ensure they have access to the right representation following a non-fault accident. The aforementioned policy will provide cover for all legal fees should the case fall out of the claims portal and require further representation.
Will claimants still get representation?
As mentioned earlier, an appointed solicitor will not be able to recover costs where the personal injury claim value is less than £5000 which means, whilst they will potentially represent the claimant, it make be looked that each case will be viewed as ‘not commercially viable’ to provide services.
Pinnacle Assist Ltd will work closely with a provider to provide a compliant post reform BTE policy along with an exceptional credit hire and repair service to ensure the claimant the right level assistance following a non-fault RTC. For us at Pinnacle Assist Ltd, its all about the customer journey and ensuring whatever happens during and after the accident we don’t lose sight of the importance of representing the claimant and servicing their needs. What to know more, please get in touch.