Motor and Personal Injury Reforms

Seminar Overview

Nearly a year and half ago the personal injury rate was reduced to minus 0.75%, causing significant increases in catastrophic injury claims payments and reserves. Part 2 of the current Civil Liability Bill now seeks to change how the rate is set and is making its way through Parliament.

At the other end of the claims value spectrum, part 1 of the Bill aims to reduce whiplash awards and to ban pre-medical offers. Related reforms will see the small claims limit increase for motor and non-motor cases, to £5,000 and £2,000 respectively.

In Europe, the combination of headline cases (such as Vnuk v Zararovalnica) and close scrutiny by the Commission scrutiny is expected to lead to notable changes in the scope of Motor Insurance Directive, with knock-on effects on the 1988 Road Traffic Act likely either this side of, or shortly after, Brexit.

Alistair Kinley of BLM will examine the outlines, the potential effects on insurance stakeholders - customers, intermediaries and insurers - and the likely timings of these key strands of reform.

Learning Objectives:

• to understand the principles driving the change in the law on the discount rate
• to set out the detail of the Government’s whiplash and small claims reforms, and
• to outline the areas in which the Commission is expected to reform the existing MID and the consequences of that for relevant national legislation