Insurance Legal Update (UK)

"Solving disputes in the county courts: creating a simpler, quicker and more proportionate system" - UK Government response

13 February 2012
by Phil Manchester, Michelle Ryan

The long-awaited government response to its consultation paper which put forward a raft of reforms to the county courts, has now been published.

Despite waiting for this fairly lengthy response for almost a year, it is rather disappointing to see that whilst some decisions have been made on reform there are no firm deadlines for change and further consultation is expected.

The proposals being taken forward at this stage are as follows:

• Increasing the financial limit of the RTA PI scheme to £25,000 but this will only follow once a full evaluation of the existing RTA PI scheme has taken place and a final impact assessment of the proposed increase published
• Introducing a 'similar scheme' to cover employers' and public liability claims. However, specific concerns in relation to issues of causation and contributory negligence have been raised requiring further consultation before any detail can be agreed
• The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) intends to work closely with the National Health Service Litigation Authority (NHSLA) and the Department of Health to evaluate the pilot scheme for clinical negligence claims before considering the introduction of a similar scheme for low value clinical negligence claims
• Mandatory pre-action directions will not be introduced for money claims under £100,000 until the government has considered the effectiveness of the current pre-action protocols
• An extension of the fixed recoverable costs system to include claims up to a higher value and across a broader range of personal injury. The response refers to implementing a system similar to that proposed by Lord Justice Jackson in his review of civil litigation costs which relates to fast track claims (claims valued at under £25,000). This is subject to further discussions with stakeholders about details of how best to extend. No further increase of the fast track limit is planned
• Increasing the small claims limit to £10,000 with the intention of increasing this further to £15,000 after full evaluation of the first increase to £10,000. There will however be no change to the limit for personal injury claims
• Automatic referral to mediation which is likely in the first instance to apply only in cases with a value of up to £5,000 with a view to then increasing this to those cases valued up to £10,000 - the proposed new upper limit for the small claims track - once further analysis has been considered as to how the service should be best delivered
• The financial limit for issue of non-personal injury claims in the High Court will be increased to £100,000
• A single county court will be established replacing the current county court structure by removing geographical and jurisdictional boundaries.

Change is therefore on the horizon but nothing is yet set in stone. Lord Justice Jackson's proposals for reform are progressing through Parliament in the form of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill but with a deferred implementation date of April 2013 there is time for further debate and consultation. It therefore remains to be seen exactly how much change will be forthcoming. No doubt there will be a fair amount - just not yet.

View the government's response including the responses to specific questions in the consultation.

For further information please contact Michelle Ryan, Professional Support Lawyer, at michelle.e.ryan@dlapiper.com.

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