The Government Accepts Recommendations Of The Insurance Fraud Taskforce

It has recently emerged that the Government has accepted all of the 26 recommendations put forward by the Insurance Fraud Taskforce in their report last January.

Measures will include clamping down on unscrupulous solicitor behaviours; namely:

A lower burden of proof before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (the civil, as opposed to the criminal, standard) Stronger fining powers for the Solicitors Regulation Authority (above the existing £2,000) Measures to discourage late claims In respect of discouraging fraudulent late claims, the report recommended changes to the rules concerning the court, costs and evidence. Suggestions included the following:

Reducing recoverable costs by 50% if a minor claim is notified six months or more after the accident Introducing a rebuttable evidential presumption that no injury occurred if claims are lodged after a certain specified period Older claims be allocated to the small claims track, with more recent claims proceeding as normal on the fast track The Taskforce also recommended consulting on an obligation for referral sources to be included on claims notification forms (which would assist with fraud detection) and for claims to only proceed where this is completed.

A tougher stance was encouraged of the SRA, for example to carry out client identification checks in more cases.

The ABI was advised to discourage 'inappropriate use of pre-medical offers,' a proposal firmly supported by Law Society Chief Executive, Catherine Dixon, as the value of claims 'cannot be properly assessed against robust medical evidence.' The Chief Executive also implies...