OIC Portal data six months on

The Official Injury Claim (OIC) service has published the second set of data covering the period 1 September to 30 November 2021.

The data set demonstrates that unrepresented claimants are managing their own claims through the system, accounting for 52.3% of settlements to date. However, the vast majority of claimants are still represented, with 90% represented. CMCs only account for 0.2% of representation with 75.3% by “Law Firm” and 24.5% by an “ABS”.

The figure for CMC involvement in the system is very low. However, what the data doesn’t tell us is how much involvement they may be having behind the scenes.

The larger claimant firms have clearly got over any teething problems and managed to model their fees, with the majority of claimants represented by them and few smaller firms involved. Any suggestions that the larger firms might not be able to operate within the cost restrictions have been unfounded.

The trend for the volume of claims initiated continues to rise and settlements have risen significantly in the period to 3,468 as more cases pass through the medical evidence stage.

Admissions – partial or full – are at 82% for the period. This includes represented and unrepresented claimants.  The high figure vindicates the extended period for providing a liability response, which has enabled compensators to decide which claims can be resolved early, make the admission early and progress the claim through OIC.

Where the claimant is unrepresented, compensators have admitted liability in 94% of claims. This should signal to consumer groups and the behavioural committee that the system is working and that compensators are acting appropriately.

The average settlement time has already extended from 45.2 days to 83 days, but this data is very immature, and we need to understand the impact of denials of liability and quantum disputes before it can be analysed properly.

Although the first two data releases do not include information on average settlement values, future releases will contain data on both tariff and non-tariff claims if volumes are sufficient.

It is difficult to draw any hard conclusions from the limited data released for the first six months of operation. As more information is released, long term trend analysis will be possible. However, the picture for motor claims remains complicated due to changing travel volumes and patterns and as claims are still being made – some correctly and some incorrectly – in the RTA Portal.

We will review the next set of data in the spring and provide our further thoughts.

Publication Author:

Prue Hopley
Head of Client Insight