Response to Civil Liability Bill getting Royal Assent

In response to the Civil Liability Bill receiving Royal Assent, Qamar Anwar, managing director of First4Lawyers, said:

“The battle over the bill may be over, but the war against a regime that will add insult to innocent claimants’ injuries is not.

"The Act cannot be implemented without secondary legislation detailing crucial elements of the reforms – such as the level of compensation injured people will receive – so the government should be on notice that we and others will be focusing our campaigning efforts on that secondary legislation.

“There’s also the added issue of the proposed online portal for personal injury litigants. There is very little confidence in the industry that this will be ready for use by thousands of consumers from the government’s planned implementation date of April 2020.

"We’ll be watching this closely and looking for assurances from the Ministry of Justice that the portal is fit for purpose from day one. If ministers cannot guarantee this, then they will need to swallow their pride and move the implementation date back.

“The public have no idea what’s coming their way - our own research showed just 18% knew of the reforms – and they will be in for a shock at how the government has put insurers’ interests ahead of their own for what we all know will turn out to be an illusory reduction in insurance premiums.”