Rules to fix the costs of medical reports in low value personal injury claims arising from road traffic accidents came into force from 1 October 2014.
The first report has been limited to GBP 180 with a second fixed cost report between GBP 180 to GBP 420 dependant on the expert required (providing that it was recommended in the first report).
Medical experts are also no longer able to have already treated the Claimant or to recommend treatment from themselves.
The second tranche of reforms have now been announced, concerning both the accreditation and independence of medical experts.
From 6 April 2015 medical experts must be registered with MedCo in order to provide the initial fixed cost medical report in a soft tissue injury claim and from 1 January 2016 experts must be accredited by MedCo in order to provide the same report.
It is hoped that a robust monitoring system is implemented in respect of the expert database with 'real' sanctions being imposed when required. Failure to give the accreditation system teeth will only allow the problems presently experienced with certain experts to continue.
There is a clear need to break the current direct financial link between the claimant law firm who commissions the reports and medical expert who prepares it. The MoJ has advised it will achieve this with the introduction of a new IT system which will provide a list of appropriate experts to choose from, excluding those which the claimant law firm has a direct financial link with.
Sadly there has been no mention of random allocation of experts which would guarantee independence. The anticipated phase two may therefore still be open to abuse from expert and claimant law firms who simply do not satisfy the financial link embargo.
One additional safeguard to be implemented from 1 June 2015 requires the Claimant's legal representative to undertake a previous claims check on their potential client (and to thereafter add a unique reference number generated by the search to the CNF). It is hoped this new requirement will act as a first layer of protection against fraudulent claimants, however it is likely to do little to deter unscrupulous Claimants and their representatives.
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