Grayling 'turning the tide on compensation culture'

Justice secretary Chris Grayling said this morning that the government was "turning the tide on the compensation culture".

His comments came as the big cut in RTA portal fees from 1,200 to 500 was implemented today, for claims worth up to 10,000.

The portal will be extended to handle claims worth up 25,000, and to include employer's and public liability cases from 31 July 2013.

Grayling said compensation culture was "pushing up the cost of insurance, and making it more expensive to drive a car or organise an event. It's time the whole system was rebalanced."

A spokesman for the MoJ added that the change would "make no difference to the amount of compensation victims will receive for genuine claims but will reduce the unnecessary additional bills faced by insurers and enable them to pass on savings to their customers".

He added that the government was also determined to "crack down" on whiplash claims by consulting on setting up independent medical panels to improve injury assessment and increasing the small claims court limit.

A spokesman for APIL said fees must be set at an appropriate level to cover basic costs, a point which the government appeared to have overlooked.

"Fixed fees in more complex cases really do raise serious concerns. From the end of July, employment liability and public liability cases which fall out of the portal will fall in to the fixed fee framework in the fast track.

"By definition, they will not be straightforward. Despite this, costs will be set at the same level even though the complexities involved will make cases much more time consuming to resolve.

"With 65 per cent of cases currently dropping out of the portal into the fast track, deserving but complex cases may go unheard simply because it is not financially viable for lawyers to take them."