Claimspace Agrees With MoJ: ADR Has Important Part to Play

Claimspace has sent IE some feedback on the Alternative Dispute Resolution aspect of injury claims settlement;

The Take up rates for ADR within the insurance claims industry have soared due to court delays, and the insurance industry is actively looking for better ways to settle claims.

– Consultation revealed substantial savings in cost and time taken to resolve cases using ADR

– Even the MoJ says it’s no longer the alternative.

– Claimspace already working with seven insurers and six law firms to provide ADR.

Commenting on the release of the MoJ’s summary of responses to a call for evidence on alternative dispute resolution (ADR), Claimspace MD Stewart McCulloch said: “It’s time to remove the ‘A’ from ADR because dispute resolution in the insurance industry has entered the mainstream. Even the MoJ acknowledges this in its response to the call for evidence on ADR, published on 29 March.”

He added: “We look forward to the MoJ coming forward with concrete proposals in a White Paper later this year, and in the meantime I urge the government to continue to encourage the wider use of dispute resolution services. The benefits are well known – savings in cost and savings in time taken. For consumers, there is a huge reduction in anxiety levels experienced if they have to use the existing court system.”

Stewart explained that the technology supporting dispute resolution is improving all the time and take up by both the legal profession and the insurance industry has accelerated, partly due to the delays in the courts which have undermined public’s confidence and risk access to justice for consumers.

Stewart noted that Claimspace is currently working with seven major motor insurers and six leading law firms to provide online ADR services for disputed injury claims.

He said that his business has been resolving disputed personal injury claims since early 2021 using its online arbitration system. “We resolve claims in less than 10 days and deliver identical results to the courts but with significant cost and time savings and without a single complaint about our services or outcomes.

He said: “Within 18 months independent digital platforms to resolve motor injury claims will become the norm, leaving the courts to resolve more complex claims where fraud or fundamental dishonesty might be alleged. In the post-PI reform world, the cash and time savings without impacting on justice are too obvious to ignore.”

Link to the MoJ call for evidence is here:

Click to access dispute-resolution-in-england-and-wales-summary-of-responses.pdf