Claims rebound after Laspo reforms

Claims entering the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) RTA portal have surged back after almost 12 months of decline following the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders 2012 (Laspo) reforms.

The reforms, which came into force in April 2013, initially led to a drop in claims volumes as changes to the portal reduced the fees payable to claimant law firms.

However, as of May 2014, claims volumes have started to grow again (see chart, below).

In the most recent set of figures, claims registered with the portal in August 2014 totalled 66,405 – a 16% increase on the same period in 2013.

However, this is still a 2% reduction on the volume of claims received in August 2012 before the Laspo reforms were introduced.

Meanwhile, damages paid out from the portal have continued to rise.

The average payout for a claim settled in August 2014 was £2,571, compared with £2,286 12 months earlier (see chart, below). This is an increase of 12%, two percentage points higher than what would be expected as a result of the 10% uplift in damages paid out under the new portal rules.

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