Insurers "abuse" road traffic accident claims system

Insurers have been accused of manipulating a system designed to speed up dealing with road traffic accident (RTA) claims, it has been claimed.

The personal injury compensation scheme aims to accelerate the processing of minor claims and was introduced by order of the Ministry of Justice.

However, it is alleged insurers have instructed associated legal firms to submit victims' claims to them, regardless of the wishes of the injured party, the Law Society Gazette reports.

Some accident solicitors maintain the companies also ignore set timescales, meaning many cases are not dealt with during the allotted window and are holding up the system.

Law firm partner Nicholas O’Neill, commented: "There is a real split between insurers that are portal friendly and those that are either unable to adhere to the timetables or can’t be bothered."

Designed to provide a secure way of transferring details between claimant and defendant, the system handles cases worth between £1,000 and £10,000.