The government is ready to press ahead with its Jackson review implementation programme, according to the senior civil servant overseeing civil litigation costs policy.
Robert Wright, head of the Ministry of Justice’s civil litigation funding and costs team, told a conference organised by the Forum of Insurance Lawyers last week that the government had agreed the overall thrust of its ‘no win, no fee’ agreement reforms.
Amidst reports that ministers are on the verge of publishing a bill that will implement many of Lord Jackson’s recommendations, Wright said: “That debate has been settled, but as far as the detail there’s a significant amount of work to be done.”
He said that any changes to existing conditional fee arrangements would require a mix of primary and secondary legislation.
The MoJ official also said that the government backed the transport select committee’s recent controversial proposal that insurers should disclose their referral fee income.
He said: “The government welcomes the transport select committee’s recommendation that the insurance industry should look at introduction of a more transparency on referral fees
But speaking later in a personal capacity he indicated frustration about the lack of beef behind calls for a total ban on referral fees.
He said: “There seems to be a clear view that referral fees should be banned or capped, but less detail about how that should happen and what practically the government should do.”
No comments yet