OIC Portal Data

The MoJ has published the latest four months-worth of data from the Official Injury Claim (OIC) portal, which was launched on 31 May 2021 to manage minor injury RTA claims.

As you will be aware, the OIC has not had the smoothest of starts, and, nearly a year on, there is little sign of the system settling down to do what ministers intended, namely to enable claimants to manage and process their own claim without representation. The latest data, for the period December 2021 – March 2022, brings reporting into line with the calendar. From now on the results will be published in line with the usual quarters of the year, although there are a number of stakeholders calling for the data to be available in real time.

The concluding section 11 of the report here gives a somewhat rosy view of the OIC.

“Core system availability remains stable with system availability running 24/7 since launch. Users can interact with the service by using the web interface or through an Automated Portal Interface (API). The web service used by direct claimants, compensators and professional advisors has performed as expected.”

Most businesses using the portal report a very different scenario, with frequent glitches, some missing elements (valuing hybrid injuries) and continued complexity. This may explain why the number of LiPs accessing the system remains stubbornly below 10%. Other points to note:

• Claims volumes entering are still much lower than the LTA. There are tens of thousands of ‘missing’ claims. Nobody knows for sure where they are.
• Only 0.2% claimants are using a CMC, undermining concerns expressed by a number of people that there would be a tsunami of CMCs looking to game the system.
• Only 8.4% of the total number of claims submitted have been settled. Average time to settle has gone up from 85 to 139 days
• Less than 30% of claims are for whiplash only.
• 23,158 claims so far have exited the portal so far, mostly because of issues of complexity

Sitting alongside ongoing court delays and supply chain issues in the motor claims market at present, the OIC report adds to a gloomy overall picture for the industry. Members who’ve experienced problems with the OIC (or members who’ve found their OIC experience to be easy) are welcome to get in touch with the CHO.