The Justice Committee launches a short inquiry into Part 5 of the Prisons and Courts Bill on road traffic accident (RTA) related ‘whiplash’ claims, and on Government plans to raise the small claims limit for personal injury.
Call for written submissions
The Committee invites written submissions of no more than 3,000 words in length addressing the following questions:
- The definition of whiplash and the prevalence of RTA-related whiplash claims
- Whether or not fraudulent whiplash claims represent a significant problem and, if so, whether the proposed reforms would tackle this effectively
- The provisions in Part 5 of the Bill introducing a tariff to regulate damages for RTA-related whiplash claims, with an uplift in exceptional circumstances; and banning the settlement of claims without medical evidence.
- The impact of raising the small claims limit to £5,000 for RTA-related whiplash claims, and of raising the small claims limit to £2,000 for personal injury claims more generally, taking account of the planned move towards online court procedures
- The role of claims management companies in respect of these matters.
The Committee has already taken oral evidence on this topic from the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers and the Association of British Insurers, on 7 February 2017.
Government’s consultation on RTA-soft tissue injuries
Submissions previously made to the Government’s consultation on RTA-soft tissue injuries can be sent to the Committee for information (the Committee cannot accept material prepared for other purposes as formal evidence but can refer to previously published material in its report), or alternatively fresh submissions can be made through the Committee’s evidence portal for this inquiry.
The Committee intends to hold one oral evidence session following receipt of written submissions, before preparing a report on the subject.
Original article can be found on the Parliament.uk website – http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/justice-committee/news-parliament-20151/personal-injury-whiplash-and-the-small-claims-limits-inquiry-launch-16-17/
