Future Focus 2030: The future of personal injury

06/29/20 • 22 min

It is the year 2030. After a number of false starts the Government finally introduced its Whiplash reforms in April 2022 following delays due to the extended impact of Brexit and Covid 19.

It was considered in the main a success as the extra time allowed all sides to reach agreements on areas that had been seen as stumbling blocks like the inclusion of ADR. This was in part helped by the co-operation that begun during the pandemic including the personal injury protocol spearheaded by Thompsons Solicitors and the Association of British Insurers. The extra time also meant the portal was fitter for purpose than some sceptics expected.

‘Lay legal advisers' - in the form of so-called 'McKenzie Friends' - did not have as large as unintended consequence as some feared, but did prove a distraction until the Ministry of Justice followed Scotland's lead by introducing a ban on remuneration for them.

Another hangover from Covid-19 was that it sped up the use of remote trials/dispute resolution for personal injury claims, including the use of mediated joint settlement meetings before going to court. Although there remains concerns among some that they do not get the same access to justice remotely as in person, this has waned over the last decade.

Automation has also become prevalent in the settling of low value personal injury claims with over half now settled this way; including an increasing number whereby a claimant receives funds within the hour after a consultation with a doctor in person or remotely.

As mentioned in the first hypothesis and article [Motor] the increase in vehicle automation has seen a decrease in the number of personal injury claims related to motor. But CMCs – although reduced in number – have seen a new rich vain in claims farming involving people working from home injuring themselves and bringing claims against their employers. There has also been a rise in claims from accidents involving Mobility-As-A-Service vehicles such as e-Scooters. With the uptick in pedal bike usage post Covid-19 third party insurance is now compulsory for cyclists too.

When a vehicle does have an accident, ENOL means policyholders don’t have to notify their insurer as the vehicles does it for them. In many cases claims are settled through a hub whereby reciprocal agreements between insurers mean swifter payments for the insured.

These includes using apps to analyse the damage and ascertain liability almost immediately at the site of some accidents after a swift information exchange between the relevant carriers.

The market is due another review of the discount rate in early 2030 with the last review in 2025. After some exploration the Government rejected the possibility of a dual-rate five years ago, which would mean having a lower rate in the short term and a higher rate in the long term to safeguard vulnerable claimants, although the Lord Chancellor said this remained open to further discussion at the next review. The discount rate is presently at 0%.

Based on this hypothesis, Post content director Jonathan Swift sat down with Mark Hewitt, director, and Mark Strang, senior business developer, Verisk to discuss the possible path between now and the 2030 outlined in the associated article.

This includes the importance of the whiplash reforms, the growth in remote hearings, the increase in automation, the benefits of insurers being immediately notified electronically that a vehicle has been involved in an accident, and the evolving role of CMCs.

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It is the year 2030. After a number of false starts the Government finally introduced its Whiplash reforms in April 2022 following delays due to the extended impact of Brexit and Covid 19.

These includes using apps to analyse the damage and ascertain liability almost immediately at the site of some accidents after a swift information exchange between the relevant carriers.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Motor Mouth Podcast 14: Motor Mouth talks micro mobility

Join Jonathan Swift, content director at Insurance Post, for this special episode of Motor Mouth as he is joined by an panel of experts including; Chris Moore of Apollo Underwriting, Rob MacKethan of Lime and Jillian Slyfield of Aon to talk all things micro mobility and how this new mode of travel could impact motor insurance.

Plenty has been said about the future of mobility. From current efforts to reclaim or redesign roads after the Coronavirus lockdown, to the increase in demand from alternative options of travel. Particularly in cities.

But what does it all mean for insurers’? Without a consolidated, unified approach globally to new methods of transport, there is no certain path to establishing micro mobility models in our network for insurers to use as a basis. Ultimately, do insurers need to build something new separate from motor insurance cover?

Joining Jonathan Swift are:

Chris Moore, head of ibott, deputy active underwriter 1971, Apollo Syndicate Management
Rob MacKethan, vice-president of insurance and risk management, Lime
Jillian Slyfield, managing director, digital economy practice leader, Aon

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Next Episode

Future Focus 2030: The future of property

At the end of 2019 there were an estimated seven to eight billion active IoT devices, a figure which now stands at 40bn. Indeed it is estimated that the average UK household now has well over 100 devices with the rise in the likes of smart meters, security devices and leak detection making household properties much better risks. Indeed escape of water, once a major issue for claims managers, has seen substantially reduced.

In the corporate and commercial space, sensors are now omnipresent across many sectors too, allowing risk managers and their insurers to foretell many issues before they become a potential loss.

The rise in sensors and intelligent risk management using digital technology/mapping/big data means that property claims numbers have fallen. But they still happen, and when they do insurers have almost instant notification of a loss and an idea of the likely exposure by using photographic recognition/AI tools to assess the damage.

This is particularly helpful as Europe continues to see more extreme fluctuations in its weather than it did in the latter half of the twentieth century.

When losses do happen, loss adjusters still continue to play a role with major events, although the use of remote desk top assessments and drones is now more common than having someone knock on a door. And if someone does knock on the door, they are just as likely to be a gig economy worker as a full time employee.

Although still not as widespread as some predicted parametric insurance for property events as flood, storm and [in other countries] earthquake damage are finding their feet with take up around 5% in both the personal lines and commercial markets.

The continued rise of ‘Generation Rent’ – which was exacerbated by the economic down turn post Covid-19 - has seen an explosion in these types of products; whilst the amount of hours spent homeworking has seen a rise in hybrid commercial/personal products as more people set up office at home.

Based on this hypothesis, Post content director Jonathan Swift sat down with Benjamin Blain, head of property claims; and Jes Westerman, head of strategic projects at Verisk, to discuss how the insurance industry might make use of Io sensors and the automation of the acquisition of data to better manage risks and handle claims over the next decade.

The trio also discuss the greater use of peril models and granular information to manage weather events and underwrite commercial and domestic properties to arrive at future market as outlined above.

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