Stop trying to beat the MedCo system, warns MASS chair

Sue Brown, the chair of Motor Accident Solicitors Society, has warned MROs that they must stop trying to “beat the system” by manipulating their entries on MedCo as it may force the Government to take drastic action agains the claims sector.

Speaking at the MASS conference on 8 October in Manchester, Brown said that although MedCo was far from perfect, it was in “everyone’s interests to make it work”.

“We hope that the ongoing MoJ review will result in beneficial changes,” she said.

“The Secretary of State for Justice, Michael Gove, has a vision of a more technologically efficient, less complex and less bureaucratic civil justice system. This will, in principle, be welcomed by most claimant solicitors working in RTA, familiar with the Claims Portal and now MedCo. Efficiencies that equally benefit claimants and defendants are to be welcomed.”

“But I must say this. MROs and others must stop trying to beat the system and stack searches in their favour. The alternatives to Medco could be far worse for everyone in the claimant sector,” she said.

Brown also said that Medco had not really “even started” to do what it was set up to do.

“The accreditation process which will be in place in early 2016, and the processes around auditing individual experts, are still being developed.

“They have the potential to make real improvements so that the medical report gives a true indication of the injury the claimant has suffered.”

She added that MedCo would have an impact if given the chance to work alongside other measures to drive fraudsters and opportunistic claimants out of the system.

“This has the potential to deliver an improved system for both insurers and injured claimants,” said Brown.

Mark Dugdale