Qamar Anwar Comments on: Latest OIC Data

Responding to the publication by the Ministry of Justice of the third quarter data on the operation of the Official Injury Claim (OIC) portal, Qamar Anwar, managing director of First4Lawyers says:

“These latest statistics are yet more evidence of a system that is failing accident victims. The number of claims recorded in the portal consistently remains much lower than even the Ministry of Justice predicted and for the few that actually reach settlement, the average wait time is now more than 200 days.

“Against a backdrop of steeply rising inflation, the government has also refused to review the fixed tariff of damages.

“Far from the cautious success described by the MoJ, the process is fast becoming a disaster for access to justice, although if its objectives were to simply to reduce claims and compensation then it has done its job. Calls for a full and transparent review are getting louder and, if there’s a genuine desire to improve the process, as would seem inevitable, the government will listen.”