Recommended changes to the small claims limit are on the table again, after the Government revealed that they will be included in a report next month from the Insurance Fraud Taskforce.
According to The Law Society Gazette, the taskforce is set to present a recommendation to increase the small claims limit from £1,000 to £5,000. Justice minister Caroline Dinenage has confirmed the proposals, while suggesting that the three-year limitation period for making a whiplash claim was also under scrutiny.
“This issue is going to be considered by the insurance fraud taskforce which will report shortly,” she said, during a Westminster Hall debate.
She added that the Government was taking the issue seriously and had not ruled out further reforms to the market.
Conservative MPs Karl McCartney and Chris Philp have also pressed the Government to push through new legislation. McCartney said their needed to be a commitment to a £5,000 small claims limit and a 12-month cut-off point for making a whiplash claim, as reforms such as the ban on referral fees and MedCo had made little difference to the number of personal injury claims.
Philp said that people should be made to seek medical help within a week of an accident to be eligible to make a claim.