Claims trade body ACSO reveals host of new members

The trade association representing claims organisations has acquired 16 new members this year, bringing its total to 60, it said on Wednesday.

The Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO) was launched in January last year with the aim of representing ”the interests of consumers and companies that support them in the civil justice system”.

Executive director Matthew Maxwell Scott attributed the “substantial increase” in membership to firms “buying into our view that the claims sector is best served by a single, powerful voice that has the interests of consumers as its core purpose”.

“We have substantially broadened our remit to cover areas of civil justice where our industry had no voice at all, such claims management company regulation and legal expenses insurance, both of which have a huge social impact.

”We’re now active in nine core policy areas which are all connected to supporting consumers in the civil justice system,” Maxwell Scott added.

“We’re also delighted to welcome lawtech firms such as Rocket Lawyer, NuvaLaw and Zeus Technology Solutions, who will play a key role in guiding our ambition to improve access to justice through technology, not least during the Covid pandemic, which has caused a growing backlog in civil cases.”

Maxwell Scott added that the claims industry ”has been poorly served by disaggregation and lack of focus when a united voice would have served it and its consumers better”.

He added that the pandemic had ”accelerated a sense that the industry needed to coalesce in order to defend consumer interests”.

“There are big questions in respect of access to justice and the rights of consumers in a 2020s recessionary economy that cannot be answered by a myriad of small special-interest groups.

 “ACSO’s mission is to be the natural home for reputable claims businesses who are passionate about the service they provide consumers in their hour of need. We’re looking forward to building our membership base even further during the coming months.”