User Guide to OIC Portal

The MoJ has responded to criticism that the OIC is too complex for litigants in person to use by publishing a shorter user guide. A link to the guide is here.

The new guide references the previous 64 page document, which the MoJ brought out before the portal was launched in June last year.

The new guide includes references to non-protocol vehicle costs and an explanation of credit hire and how it should be managed via the portal. Officials have clearly worked hard to simplify the language as much as possible, but it remains the case that unrepresented claimants will struggle to access the OIC and navigate their way right through the process.

Some of the language and terminology is legalese, and it is surprising that, in valuing injuries, the reader is referred back to the Judicial College Guidelines and the tariff in the Civil Liability Act.

We continue to be interested in members’ feedback on how the OIC has affected their business processes; evidence from the sharp end is essential if we are to make sure that members’ concerns are taken account of by officials on the OIC Advisory Group, which was set up in 2021 to monitor the progress of the portal.

CHO Interim CEO Peter Gomes and Chair Lucy Woods are due to meet the Ministry of Justice on Thursday 10 March. If you have any representations you would like to be made at this meeting, please email matt.rowland@thecho.co.uk