It will be no surprise to claimant representatives that the costs for running personal injury cases have not changed since July 2013.

The Association of Consumer Support Organisations, a trade body for claimant companies, said fixed costs for certain services are in need of immediate review.

This statement must feel long overdue for claimant representatives and regrettably too late for some law firms who have had to abandon personal injury work altogether in the last decade.

Research by ASCO found that many fixed regime costs have not been updated since July 2013 and currently there is no mechanism to ensure their review.

Tables produced by the ACSO show that fixed costs for RTAs settling at more than £10,000.00 were set at £800.00 in 2013.  In line with inflation that should now be £1020.00.

For an initial medical report, in a similar type of case, fixed costs were set at £180.00 in 2014.  Taking into account of inflation at RPI the costs of producing such a report should now be just under £225.00.

ACSO director, Matthew Maxwell Scott said that; “The freezing of rates for so long means dramatic real-terms cuts for claimant, their representatives and for medical experts and there has been no explanation for this”.

He went onto say:  “Should this continue, consumers will either be cut off from the justice system entirely or will face a compensation crisis where damages recovered fail to adequately meet their needs due to increasing costs obligations placed on their own solicitor”.

It is clear that fixed costs for personal injury claims require urgent review.

Here at Box Legal, our staff have specialist knowledge of the personal injury sector and understand the challenges faced by law firms since the introduction of fixed costs.  We continue to be committed to offering competitive ATE insurance to meet the needs of claimants and assist in providing your clients with access to justice.

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Here at Box Legal we have been offering after the event legal expense insurance, since 2004 and have a wealth of experience. We have competitively priced ATE insurance policies available for all types of personal injury claims and can also arrange legal expense insurance cover for non-personal injury claims such as housing disrepair and financial mis-selling.

The number and variety of cases we arrange cover for is always increasing and so please contact us to discuss any after the event insurance requirements. We are happy to discuss and develop ATE insurance for case types we do not already insure.

If you would like to speak to us or obtain further information then please call on 0870 766 997, or email info@boxlegal.co.uk