Over the last couple of months, we have seen insurers and defendant solicitors stating that claimants are "layering" their claims to maximise their damages. They are citing extra incentives to ‘layer-up’ claims with non-whiplash type injures because these types of injures are not subject to a fixed tariff.

What do we mean by “claims layering”? In this instance, it is the practice of boosting the value of a claim through claiming for additional injuries in addition to the whiplash type injury such as wrist, leg or abdomen injuries.

Recent reporting from the Official Injury Claims Portal, for the period of October to December 2023, shows that;

  • 17% of claims are whiplash only.
  • 29% of claims are whiplash only with minor psychological injury, which includes shock, anxiety and other psychological conditions.

So, whiplash & non-tariff claims make up 67% of all claims being settled within the Official Injury Claims (OIC) Portal.

There is still uncertainty on how to assess a claim that includes whiplash and a non-tariff injury. On the 20th February 2024, the Supreme Court heard how damages should be assessed where claimants are alleging both tariff whiplash injuries and non-tariff injuries. The outcome is eagerly awaited because of the different approaches being sought, which will lead to different financial outcomes.

The President of the Law Lords acknowledged that this decision issue is important and promised a quick judgment, hopefully by early summer.  In addition, the whiplash tariff is being reviewed this year along with the Judicial Studies Guide being updated. There is an expectation that there will be at least an 20% increase in damages.

The challenge is that the official Injury Claim’s data only breaks down settled claims between;

  • Distribution between Whiplash Only & Whiplash & Minor Psychological
  • Volumes & Average settlements between Injury Tariff & Injury Non-Tariff

Insurers need to analyse not only claims that settle but claims when they are submitted in order to ensure the correct strategies and best practices are implemented from day one and throughout the lifecycle of the claim.

360Retrieve will analyse a claim throughout its entire lifecycle. From First Notification of Loss (FNOL) to all Official Injury Claim Portal and MOJ documents, medical reports, emails, image metadata and more. It's about examining every crumb.

With regards to the different types of injuries being claimed, 360Retrieve informs the nature of any medical condition or injury, together with any associated conditions. The technology understands prognoses and rehabilitation periods and identifies under-reserved claims. It’s then able to profile the Solicitors based on the type of injuries being claimed.

360Retrieve will highlight those claims where there are seat belt injuries to chest or abdomen in low-speed impacts, wrist injuries while holding the steering wheel or multiple injuries being claims for the same area – shoulder and clavicle and scapula.

360Globalnet can help you with the challenges you are facing with the Whiplash Reforms and the Official Injury Claim (OIC) Portal. It’s time to deliver analytical and profiling capability for any type of claim across 100% of your available data.

Get in touch today and keep an eye out in the over the next couple of weeks for a follow up article with detailed analysis on OICP claims layering using unstructured data integration, driven by 360Retrieve.