MOJ PORTAL ANALYSIS (EL & PL CLAIMS)

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1 MOJ PORTAL ANALYSIS (EL & PL CLAIMS) BLM casualty practice group Q2 (August October 2016) Sophie Houghton Professional support lawyer, BLM T +44 (0) E sophie.houghton@blm.com

2 This report is compiled from the data extracted from the Claims Portal company website in relation to the management information for EL and PL claims during the period August to October The statistics reveal interesting trends in relation to the number of EL and PL claims which have been submitted via the portal, the number which proceed to stage 2, the number which settled at stage 2 and the number which exited the portal. The Claims Portal EL and PL Management and information can be accessed at The Executive Dashboard/MI for EL and PL claims was last updated by the Claims Portal on the evening of 7 November Observations During August to October 2016 the average number of submitted EL portal claims totalled 4,305 compared to a total of 4,496 for this corresponding period in There has therefore been a very slight decrease in numbers totalling 191 and a decrease of 4.25%. The average number of submitted PL portal claims totalled 5,517 for the period August to October 2016 compared to a total of 6,132 for the corresponding period in This shows that there has also been a decrease by 615 in the number of submitted portal claims and an overall decrease of 10.03%. In correlation with the slight decrease in submitted EL and PL portal claims, the number of Claim Notification Forms that have dropped out of the Stage 1 process cumulatively for both EL and PL claims has decreased when comparing the period August to October 2015 with August to October There has been a decrease by 13.46% in PL claims dropping out of the Stage 1 process during this period and there has also been a decrease by 8.48% in the number of EL claims dropping out of the Stage 1 process. However, there has been a noticeable increase by 19.8% in the number of PL claims which have left stage 2 of the portal during the period August to October 2016 when compared with August to October There has also been a similar increase by 17.86%, in the number of EL claims which have left stage 2 of the portal during the period August to October 2016 compared with August to October MOJ portal analysis (EL & PL claims) 1

3 The above statistics indicate that more claims are remaining in the portal after Stage 1 but an increasing number of claims are exiting at stage 2. This means that an increasing number of claims are dropping out of the portal and will likely be issued under Part 7 where higher costs will be recoverable from the claimant in the event that the claim is successful. Claimant solicitors are displaying similar behavioural patterns where claims frequently exit the portal due to late payment of requested interim payments and failure to pay stage 1 and stage 2 costs. Also rehabilitation referrals for physiotherapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can lead to claims exiting the portal. It is also interesting to note that for this quarter there has been an increase in both the number of EL and PL claims that have exited stage 2 in comparison to the previous quarter (May to July 2016). Also there has been a slightly higher number of PL claims which have exited at stage 2 compared to EL claims. The increased number of exits from stage 2 of the portal corresponds with a 10.40% decrease in the agreed number of EL settlements and a 7.56% decrease in the agreed number of PL settlements at stage 2 when comparing August to October 2016 with August to October In respect of EL claims, the number of stage 2 settlements from August to October 2016 compared with May to July 2016 decreased by 8.45%, whilst the number of PL settlements at stage 2 increased by 6.49% when comparing August to October 2016 with May to July However, the trends indicate that on the whole, less claims are settling at stage 2. One potential contributor in respect of lower numbers of claims settling at stage 2 is there being an increasing number of inactive claims during stage 2 of the process. This could be due to a number of factors, to include delays with obtaining instructions, delays in respect of arranging appointments with the medical expert and/or delays in obtaining the final medical report. In relation to the average General Damages offered, it is interesting to note that that the average cumulative damages for the period between August to October 2016 was the same for both EL and PL portal claims totalling 3,818. There has been a slight increase of 10.54% in respect of the amount of General Damages offered for PL claims in comparison with a very slight increase of 0.52% for EL claims. This may provide a further explanation as to why there is an increase in the number of EL and PL claims exiting the process at stage 2 when comparing August to October 2016 with August to October 2015 because the amount of average General Damages offered has not increased by much for PL claims and has scarcely increased for EL claims. MOJ portal analysis (EL & PL claims) 2

4 The statistics indicate that defendants are remaining braver and more aggressive in relation to the amount of General Damages offered in settlement of a claim. Also the statistics show that claimants are willing to exit claims from the portal and issue court proceedings in order to seek higher damages and costs. It is interesting to note that the number of EL claims that left the portal using the exit function decreased by 2.09% whilst the number of PL claims that left the portal using the exit function decreased by 13.32% when comparing August to October 2016 with August to October The data from the Claims Portal company website shows that for PL claims 2,868 cases exited the portal due to the CNF being incomplete, whilst only 211 exited the portal due to the value being below 1,000. In comparison the data from the Claims Portal company website for EL claims shows that 741 exited the portal due to the CNF being incomplete, whilst 177 exited the portal due to the value of the claim being below 1,000. It is also interesting to note that only a very small percentage of claims exit the process due to claims purportedly being too complicated for the process. In comparison, a much higher number of claims for both EL and PL exit the process for the value of the claim exceeding the upper limit, being 25,000. One of the most likely reasons for a claim to exit the process is due to further investigation being required. In respect of PL claims, 7.25% exited the portal for this reason whilst in respect of EL claims 9.84% exited for this reason, also an even higher amount of EL and PL claims left the process using the exit function for other reasons. The portal statistics reveal that in October 2016 the total number of CNFs that remained in the EL portal, to include CNFs that had liability decisions outstanding, totalled 23,394 in comparison to 25,829 CNFs that remained in the PL portal. There has also been a 44.67% increase in relation to the number of court packs created for PL claims and a huge % increase in relation to the number of court packs created for EL claims when comparing August to October 2016 with August to October This is not surprising because the number of stage 2 exits has increased for both EL and PL claims. This may partly be due to defendants offering less to settle General Damages and taking a more aggressive stance in relation to liability and quantum. Whilst claimants tactically are becoming more savvy and have adopted swifter processes for dealing with volume claim numbers and exiting these claims from the portal wherever possible in order to seek increased damages and costs. MOJ portal analysis (EL & PL claims) 3

5 Comparison between Q and Q , , , , , , , August - October 2016 August - October 2016 MOJ portal analysis (EL & PL claims) 4

6 Claim volumes The statistics in respect of Portal usage for EL and PL claims Volumes reported by the portal company Calendar Year Total CNFs sent Total Stage 1 exits Total Stage 2 exits Total general exit process Total all forms of exit Total exits as a % of CNFs sent Stage 3 packs prepared Stage 2 settlements Total Stage 2 settlements & Stage 3 resolved Total Stage 2 and Stage 3 settlements as % of CNFs * ,147 6, ,752 10, % % 9, ,537 63, ,283 86, % 293 8,726 9, % 25, ,983 70,214 1,586 28, , % ,736 17, % 9,095 # ,257 52,472 1,598 22,784 76, % ,173 14, % 6208 Unaccounted for CNFs less total exits/settlements and Stage 3 resolved * 5 months of date extrapolated # 10 months of data extrapolated MOJ portal analysis (EL & PL claims) 5

7 Annual trend analysis between and Average per month 2015 Average per month Change Change % Trend Trend 2014 to 2015 as % of CNF s sent Outcome for insurers CNFs sent/received 10,129 10, % Up Increase Negative Stage 1 exits 5, % Up Increase Negative Stage 2 exits % Up Increase Negative Other exit process 1, % Up Increase Negative Stage 2 settlements % Up Increase Positive Stage 3 packs % Up Increase Positive Unresolved 2, % Down Decrease Positive Average Damages % Up Increase Negative 2015 Average per month 2016 Average per month Change Change % Trend Trend 2015 to 2016 as % of CNF s sent Outcome for insurers CNFs sent/received 10,582 9, % Down Decrease Positive Stage 1 exits 5,851 5, % Down Decrease Positive Stage 2 exits % Up Increase Negative Other exit process 2,372 2, % Down Decrease Positive Stage 2 settlements 1,395 1, % Down Decrease Negative Stage 3 packs % Up Increase Negative Unresolved % Down Decrease Positive Average Damages 3,575 3, % Up Increase Negative MOJ portal analysis (EL & PL claims) 6

8 Average per month Annual trend analysis between 2014, 2015 and , , , , , , MOJ portal analysis (EL & PL claims) 7

9 1. The statistics from the Portal company show the following key points: A slight decrease in the number of CNFs sent/received when comparing the average for August 2016 to October 2016 with the monthly average for A decrease in the number of stage 1 exits when comparing the monthly average for August to October 2016 with the monthly average for 2015 and A 17.6 % decrease in the number of stage 3 packs when comparing the average for August 2016 to October 2016 with the monthly average for However, there has been a 37.84% increase in the number of stage 3 packs when comparing the monthly average to date for 2016 with the monthly average for A 18.07% decrease in the number of unresolved claims when comparing the monthly average for 2016 with the monthly average for Based upon the exits from August to October 2016, in excess of 50% exit at Stage 1 in comparison with 1.6% exiting the portal at Stage 2. It appears that these statistics will remain stable as they are similar to the statistics for 2014 and This means that just over 50% of all portal claims will exit the portal at some stage of the process. 3. The average monthly statistics reveal that the amount of General Damages offered is gradually increasing each year with an increase of 5.17% when comparing the monthly average for 2015 with the monthly average to date for Specifically for the period August to October 2016 there has been a 15.89% increase in the amount of General Damages offered for EL claims when comparing to the monthly average for Also there has been an increase in the amount General Damages offered for PL claims by 9.82% when comparing the monthly average for 2015 with the monthly average for August to October MOJ portal analysis (EL & PL claims) 8

10 It will be interesting to see whether these figures remain consistent and the impact that the JSB 14 th edition, which is due next year, will have on the amount of General Damages offered. 4. If the present position is maintained, the annualised projection of EL and PL claims submitted in 2016 totals 116, The total number of CNFs submitted via the portal from 31/7/2013 to 31/10/2016 for EL claims is 151,495, whilst the total number of CNFs submitted via the portal from 31/7/2013 to 31/10/2016 for PL claims is 214,390.

11 MOJ portal analysis (EL & PL claims) 10 Sophie is the professional support lawyer for casualty claims. She specialises in employers liability and public liability cases having worked as an in-house solicitor at a leading insurance firm. Sophie Houghton Professional support lawyer T: +44 (0) E: sophie.houghton@blmlaw.com MOJ portal analysis (EL & PL claims) 10