The Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that claimants could receive additional damages for whiplash and other types of injuries in mixed cases. Insurers had submitted to the Court that these mixed cases should be compensated concurrently, so reducing the damages, but their appeal was dismissed.

Insurers have already warned that this ruling could see higher premiums with ABI quoting “Motor insurers are doing all they can to keep prices as competitive as possible, but this will only increase the cost pressures they’re facing”.

In addition, the latest Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) 17th have been published with the headline ‘22% Increase Across Most Injuries’ – this includes those relevant to the Official Injury Claims (OIC) Portal claims.

By the end of May, the percentage increase for Tariff claims is to be published, and potential indicators are a 22% increase.

The latest reports from the Official Injury Claims Portal, for the period of January to March 2024, show that;

  • 18% of claims are whiplash only.
  • 30% of claims are whiplash only with minor psychological injury, which includes shock, anxiety and other psychological conditions.
  • 67% of claims are a mixture of whiplash and non-tariff injuries.

From analysing the data using our own technology, in addition to the broadly similar figures above, we see an average of 45% of claimants suffering from anxiety and head type injuries, mostly headaches. This is in comparison with our MOJ data, where only 9% and 15% respectively of claimants were suffering from anxiety and head type injuries. We are also seeing increases in arm, leg and wrist type of injuries being claimed.

Furthermore, some of the differences between the type of injuries being claimed from different law firms are quite diverse – ranging from 90% to 0%!

It is vital for insurers to collect as much information as near to notification of loss as possible. Then, throughout the life cycle of the claim to identify and profile all types of injuries claimed. For example, identify a potential Low Velocity Incident (LVI) claim at notification of loss, and then in the event of an injury claim, deny causation and present the appropriate evidence to the medical expert in relation to the damage of all vehicles involved in the incident.

Dr Sahir ShaikhDr Sahir Shaikh, an experienced and renowned orthopaedic surgeon, as well as a MedicoLegal expert, supports having access to as much information when conducting a medical examination. Dr Shaikh’s quotes “The role of medical experts to help the Court in establishing causation of non-whiplash injuries is of paramount importance. The experts will need to consider various biomechanical factors such as size of the vehicle, damage documents, direction and forces of the impact between two vehicles. A robust medical analysis of causation of various injuries will help the claimants obtain appropriate compensation, and help the insurers to settle the claims in a fair and expeditious manner. It is about time that the medical experts rise up to the challenge and perform their duty to the Court.”

Having access to 100% of your available data enables profiling of not only the type of injuries but the demographics and geo analysis. This is where 360Globalnet’s unique technology is helping insurers. We’re enabling clients to understand the profile of claims within the OIC Portal by providing greater depth of data and knowledge than what is available from the OIC Portal reports. In turn, clients are then use the data for KYO (Know Your Opponents) by analysing the data by law firm, so implementing specific strategies, best practices and processes.

With our award winning, completely configurable no-code digital claims software, 360Globalnet can help you with the challenges you are facing with not only the Whiplash Reforms and the Official Injury Claim (OIC) Portal but any type of claim that needs to be identified, prioritised and actioned upon, throughout the lifecycle of the claim.

Now is time to deliver analytical and profiling capability for any type of claim across 100% of your available data.

Contact us today to learn more and get started.