Personal injury

Claimant lawyer representatives have warned that the planned new regime of fixed recoverable costs for clinical negligence will stop people from securing the compensation they deserve. The Department of Health yesterday unveiled plans to limit costs for most claims valued up to £25,000 and introduce a streamlined process for making claims. Ministers insist the proposals – which target legal costs rather than compensation levels – will bring costs down while still ensuring that restrictions do not affect…

The scheme for diagnosing whiplash injuries in RTA claims is to restore its ban on remote examinations from this summer. The restriction had been suspended by MedCo during the pandemic to allow injured people to be assessed through virtual appointments. But in light of the government’s ending of Covid-19 rules, all examinations that take place on or after 1 July must be in person. Martin Heskins, executive chair of MedCo, said ‘It has always been MedCo’s…

Aclaimant failing to disclose a report at the first opportunity runs the risk of a costs sanction – but not the exclusion of their evidence, the court has ruled. In Greyson v Fuller, Mrs Justice Foster DBE ruled that, while the RTA claims protocol was a ‘particular and stringent process’, the scheme allowed for discretion. The dispute arose over medical reports disclosed to the defendant (following an RTA in June 2017) in a manner different to that…

Solicitors handling flight compensation claims had a right to their costs despite the airline trying to deal directly with their clients, the Supreme Court has ruled. The court allowed the appeal from north west practice Bott & Co by a 3-2 majority, finding that the firm was entitled to a lien over clients’ compensation for its costs. In the lead judgment, Lord Burrows said Bott & Co had provided legal services to its clients for…

Health officials have agreed the cost of clinical negligence claims is ‘unsustainable’ as they digest the advice of MPs to overhaul the system. The Gazette understands the Department of Health & Social Care is considering the health committee’s report ‘carefully’, although there is no indication that its recommendations will become part of government policy. The committee, chaired by former health secretary Jeremy Hunt MP, this week called for a change in the law to bring compensation into line with the…

National firm Slater and Gordon has declined a judge’s offer to sign a statement of truth that would deny it was the beneficiary of ‘secret’ commissions on ATE insurance. In an unexpected turn of events in a high-profile costs recovery case, Mr Justice Ritchie today offered the firm the opportunity to commit to the court that there was no fraudulent or rule-breaching element to deductions from clients’ cash account to pay for insurance cover. The…