Industry to develop faster compensation process following government reforms.
The UK insurance industry should work together to develop a new framework for personal injury claims after government reforms were a damp squib, says AXA claims director David Williams.
The ABI has confirmed that it will start work on a market solution for non-motor personal injury claims once the limited reforms to the system, announced by the government earlier this year, have had a chance to bed down.
AXA is already working on a process to make non-motor liability claims more efficient. It is also encouraging more injured parties to negotiate directly, without legal representation.
Williams said he was in favour of an industry-wide process for handling non-motor liability claims.
“We would need to be very clear about how we work together to be within competition law. The ABI is very keen on this developing – it put a proposal forward in its response to the [government consultation on reforms to the system]. Can this be resurrected? It is up to individual insurers, it is being discussed,” he said.
Justin Jacobs, the ABI’s head of motor and liability insurance, said: “Once the dust has settled on motor claims, we can look at whether there is a market solution [for non-motor liability claims] that will give fair compensation to claimants.”
Reforms to the lengthy and expensive personal injury claims process were announced by the government in July after more than a year of consultation. But the final proposals applied only to motor-related claims of up to £10,000, prompting dismay across the industry.
The exclusion of other personal injury claims, particularly employers’ liability claims, has been blamed on trade unions, which are understood to have lobbied the government.
