Claimant lawyers have welcomed news from the Government that it does not intend to proceed with further reforms to whiplash claims.

The Government has today (22 March) published its response to the second part of its consultation Reforming the soft tissue injury (‘whiplash’) claims process.

“The proposals included consequences for injured people who wait to bring their claims or wait to seek medical help, even though there are often legitimate reasons for why they would delay. Sometimes the extent of the injury needs time to unfold, or the injured person might initially try to ‘brave it out’ before seeking treatment,” explained Neil McKinley, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL).

“Several proposals in this section of the consultation were in reaction to behaviours which are perceived to be indicative of fraud. They were disproportionate and unfair to claimants, the vast majority of whom are genuinely injured people,” said Neil.

“The suggestion that recoverability of disbursements should be restricted was particularly heavy-handed, and would only serve to put undue financial drains on people who are representing themselves in the new system,” Neil added.

“It is only sensible that these measures have been dropped.”