The Department for Constitutional Affairs is set to endorse the Claims Standards Council's (CSC) Fast Track scheme for personal injury claims.
Industry insiders have said the CSC's draft best practice standards for claims management companies, which include the Fast Track scheme, will be endorsed by the Civil Justice Minister David Lammy in his response to the Better Regulation Task Force report, Better routes to redress.
But Norwich Union director of technical claims Dominic Clayden said he had "severe reservations" about some of the CSC proposals for self regulation and its Fast Track scheme.
Clayden said the insurer had early discussions with the CSC but has withdrawn from the process and will instead conduct a claims resolution pilot with the Department for Work and Pensions.
He said: "We feel that a discussion around protocols for the sector needs to await the claims management industry demonstrating a period of good self regulation as recommended by the Better Regulation Task Force. In addition we have severe reservations about the protocols at this time."
A spokesman for the CSC said it is planning to launch a three-month pilot of the Fast Track scheme, with support from AXA, and law firms Russell Jones & Walker and Anderson Eden.
The spokesman claimed the scheme could see claims costs reduced by as much as 25%.
The CSC's Fast Track system will deal with cases where compensation is likely to be less that £15,000, where no after-the-event policy has been sold for the claim, and where the insurer has agreed to "resolve liability issues at an early stage".
For more details see our website (
www.instimes.co.uk/futureofclaims /) or call Claire McShane on 0207 618 3456.
