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  • More than 90% of injured motorists still needed professional help to navigate the complex online process required to make a claim. (1)
  • Liability denied for 11% of represented claimants and
  • Only 436 claims have been settled since the service launched on May 31
 

David Haynes, Underwriting Director at ARAG:

The successive delays to implementing the Civil Liability Act should have provided enough time to deliver a solution that works for all parties. It is clear from this first data to be released from the Official Injury Claim (OIC) operation, that the injured motorists who should have been at the centre of this process have been failed.

The fundamental stated objective of the OIC service is to make ‘…the claim process simple, unbiased and secure so you can claim for minor injuries yourself for free without legal help.’ Aside from the security aspect, it appears to have failed, so far, in every respect.

Far from being simple, it is far too complex for most motorists to use independently, liability seems much more likely to be denied for represented claimants and many cases are going to end up joining the huge backlogs in the courts.

The major issue of so-called ‘hybrid’ injuries still remains unresolved but, from our perspective, the fundamental failure of OICs is that it reinforces the disparity of arms between injured motorists and well-resourced defendants. As result, justice is being wholly undermined.

 

Notes to Editors

ARAG plc is part of the global ARAG Group, the largest family-owned enterprise in the German insurance industry. Founded in 1935, on the principle that every citizen should be able to assert their legal rights, ARAG now employs more than 4,400 people in 19 countries around the world and generates revenue and premium income totaling €1.9 billion.

Operating in the UK since 2006, ARAG plc provides a comprehensive suite of ‘before-the-event’ and ‘after-the-event’ legal expenses insurance products and assistance solutions to protect both businesses and individuals.

(1) Official Injury Claim Service (2021), Claims Data - for the period 31st May-31st August 2021, [online] Available at: https://www.officialinjuryclaim.org.uk/media/1222/oic-data-publication-document-211021-final.pdf [Accessed: October 22, 2021]

 

Contacts

Rachael Wornes, Marketing Manager, ARAG UK, 0117 917 1578, pressoffice@arag.co.uk
Paul Jacobs, Director, Consultable, 079 0982 1731, paul@consultable.co.uk

Disclaimer - all information in this article was correct at time of publishing.

 
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