The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and the Forum of Insurance Lawyers (FOIL) have joined forces to produce a new guide to help speed up the handling of catastrophic injury claims.
More than a year in the making, the Guide to the Conduct of Cases Involving Serious Injury, has attracted the support of 12 major insurers so far and 40 law firms.
All those who have signed up to the code have committed to a series of objectives, including speedy resolution of liability, early access to rehabilitation, and the use of appropriate and proportionate costs. The serious injury guide builds and improves upon elements of the old multi-track code, and will work in parallel with the civil procedure rules.
“This collaboration will make a real difference to the way claims valued £250,000 and over are handled,” said Deborah Evans, the chief executive of APIL.
“It puts the injured person at the heart of the process by encouraging early interim payments, prioritising early rehabilitation and focussing on settling claims more quickly and efficiently.”
Laurence Besemer the CEO of FOIL said that his organisation was very pleased to be working alongside insurers and APIL members to bring “real substance and form” to the broad concept of collaboration between the parties in a serious injury case.
“I hope that this pragmatic and consensual approach can be used in other areas of dispute resolution where more work needs to be done,” he said.