Rehabilitation on the rise in personal injury claims

The use of rehabilitation when handling personal injury claims has continued to rise, according to a report by the International Underwriting Association (IUA) and the ABI Rehabilitation Working Party.

The report found that the Rehabilitation Code, which was introduced 13 years ago, is now a fully established part of the claims process. It found that 97% of claims handlers, 93% of claimant lawyers and 88% of the insurance lawyers surveyed said they used the code at least some of the time.

A similar exercise in 2001 revealed that hardly any practitioners used the code.

The latest investigation finds that the impetus for rehabilitation now comes from both insurers and also claimant lawyers, who say it is part of their duty to clients.

IUA-ABI Rehabilitation Working Party chair Mark Baylis said: “Our survey shows there has been a sea change since the early days, that the Rehabilitation Code is now a normal, well recognised part of handling personal injury claims. This is a massive achievement by the insurance industry and also by the organisations representing personal injury lawyers who have put so much effort into developing the code and spreading the message.

“As a result hundreds of thousands of injured people have had treatment they might otherwise not have received.”