Plans to extend the streamlined process for road traffic accident cases to higher value claims must not be considered until its ongoing technical problems have been completely ironed out, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has said.
APIL has submitted a response to the Ministry of Justice’s consultation Solving Disputes in the County Court; Creating a Simpler, Quicker and More Proportionate System, which closed yesterday.
“All problems with the RTA process must be rectified before any thought is given to extending it to higher value claims,” said APIL president David Bott.
“While APIL is always supportive of efficiencies which benefit claimants, complications which often arise in higher value claims, such as the cost of future care, past and future losses and pre-existing medical conditions, make the existing scheme in its current form inappropriate for extension.”
APIL has also said it is difficult to see how the existing process could be applied to employers’ liability (EL) and public liability (PL) cases.
“Workplace cases are often difficult by nature because of common issues with liability, causation, apportionment of liability and evidence,” added Mr Bott.
“This makes it hard to see how many of them would remain within the scope of a simplified process.
“Because PL claims are wide ranging, as they encompass cases which do not fall under readily available definitions such as EL or clinical negligence, it is also hard to see how they could work under a ‘one size fits all’ scheme.”
To read a copy of APIL’s consultation response, click here.
Medico-Legal News Source: APIL
