Qamar Anwar Comments on the Announcement That the Government’s Plans to Extend Fixed Recoverable Costs Are to Be Delayed

Commenting on the announcement that the government’s plans to extend fixed recoverable costs are to be delayed by another six months, Qamar Anwar, managing director of First4Lawyers, says:

“It was apparent to everyone, apart from the Ministry of Justice it seems, that it would not be ready to implement this in April. Only last week we heard that plans had changed significantly, with the required introduction of an ‘intermediate track’ that the MoJ had initially said was not necessary.

“The whiplash reforms and the resulting fallout which we are still dealing with 18 months in is a clear sign that these decisions cannot and should not be rushed.

“It has forced injured people, the majority of whom find the system too complicated to bring claims without help, out into a legal market where there is now vastly reduced choice because firms can no longer afford to operate with such reduced margins. The complexity of cases was underestimated, meaning many are stuck in the system. For example, the huge backlog of mixed tariff cases which are yet to be resolved.

“These same issues apply to the extension of fixed costs and it is this that the MoJ should be focusing on instead of setting yet another arbitrary deadline.”