The clock is ticking and The Insurance Times suggests many firms are not ready!

"What all industry participants agree on, however, is that the OIC portal launch cannot be a ‘once and done’ process because “on day one, the service that the claimant is going to get isn’t what they should get because we haven’t had enough time to develop [the] operational processes and best practice to be able to deliver that”, added Graham Pulford, chief executive of handl Group.

Morrish agreed: “We all have to go into this a little a bit realistically, accepting that it may not be perfect on day one. Learning as we all become more familiar with the rules was always going to happen, even if we’d had six months to prepare for it."

Katie Scott 30th March, 2021

Implementation checklist

According to Shirley Woolham, chief executive of Minster Law, there are four key actions that insurance businesses must have “ticked off, or at least massively in execution” at this point, otherwise “you’re way off the pace”.

These are:

1. Develop a digital process that is built around data as a decision-making asset, to drive out places where firms can use automation.

2. Work with the company’s supply chain to find opportunities to integrate and share data, to improve customer experience and case progression.

3. Reorganise and redesign how work is going to be executed at a people level. This includes rethinking how to apply people skills to digital processes.

4. Think about how to get customers to perform what is needed to get their case progressed. For example, is the process easy and straightforward enough? Is there ongoing investment in customer interaction?

With just 30 days to make decisions insurers and brokers need a suite of post whiplash solutions to both meet the expectations of customers and the MoJ and combat the attention of CMCs seeking to exploit the changes.

As law form Kennedy's recently stated: 

"Non-whiplash injuries, such as tinnitus, headaches and wrist or ankle complaints, are “becoming trendy again” and “coming back in vogue” as add-on conditions to whiplash-related personal injury claims – this approach aims to boost whiplash claims out of the incoming Official Injury Claim process to potentially attract higher compensation amounts"

"Speaking at the firm’s recent whiplash-themed webinar, Niall Edwards, partner at Kennedys, predicted that firms within the personal injury arena will begin to see non-whiplash injuries tacked on to whiplash claims in order “to jump claims out of” the new Official Injury Claim portal, previously referred to as the Litigants in Person (LiP) portal"

Insurance Times 17th March 2021

There's much more in the Insurance Times article about training of staff and other preparations. 

This is when no-code claims platforms are really valued. You can introduce new digital claims flows and processes without the delays and cost associated with traditional software. And companies with the combination of technology and skilled investigators to establish liability and support you in statement of truth collection. Firms like Robertson & Company.

The clocks ticking- time to crack on.