The APIL/FOIL Guide to the Conduct of Cases Involving Serious Injury has been developed following years of collaborative work between APIL, FOIL and a number of major insurers. This work began as the Multi Track Code, which was first published in March 2008, and launched as a pilot on 1 July 2008. The code was developed with the objective of parties working together, allocating tasks, and narrowing the issues throughout the claim. Not all cases will receive early admissions of liability but there is a common aim to attempt dispute resolution as early as practicable.
Following conclusion of the pilot for the Multi Track Code in 2011, and subsequent discussions with member of both organisations, it was decided that a less prescriptive approach should be taken. The Guide to the Conduct of Cases Involving Serious Injury is a result of this new approach. The guide was launched in October 2015 and, like the code, is aimed at achieving a collaborative process between claimant and defendant representatives, in catastrophic claims where damages are over £250,000 – excluding clinical negligence and asbestos related disease claims.
The Serious Injury Guide committee has produced a video explaining the benefits of route mapping meetings, and to help participants to get the most out of them. The video can be viewed by clicking the play button above.
The Serious Injury Guide requires a commitment by all parties to obtain and disclose promptly all relevant documents, including police reports in road traffic accident cases. National Policing Guidance on disclosure of information to third parties in relation to civil claims following a road traffic collision is available to read below. This guidance mirrors policy provided to CPS lawyers in respect of the disclosing of information to third parties in road traffic collisions.
National Policing Guidance on disclosure of information
The National Police Chiefs’ Council issued updated guidance on the lawful basis for disclosure in July 2023. This guidance can be found from the link below.
Guidance on the lawful basis for disclosure (updated July 2023)
The steering group would be grateful for any case studies of current cases being conducted under the Guide. Case studies are an invaluable way to demonstrate to others the positive outcomes that acting in a collaborative claims environment can achieve. These cases do not need to have reached full settlement, and can simply be examples of reaching a positive outcome on a specific issue within a case.
A guide to what case studies should include is available here: Case studies suggested template (Word document)
Please send any case studies to Abi Jennings, abi.jennings@apil.org.uk
Below is a list of the claimant signatories to the Serious Injury Guide and the contact details of each firm’s escalation point. Further details on the escalation procedure can be found in the “Troubleshooting” section of this website, and section 7 of the Serious Injury Guide.
Below is a list of the insurer signatories to the Serious Injury Guide. The contact details below are to be used by claimant participants to notify the insurer that the claim is to be conducted under the guide, in accordance with section 2 of the guide. The contact details should also be used as the firm’s escalation point. Further information on the escalation procedure can be found at the “troubleshooting” section of this website, and section 7 of the Serious Injury Guide
A new threshold for cases under the guide is currently being piloted. Firms taking part in the pilot are following an amended version of the guide which removes the refence to cases over £250,000. Under the pilot, the guide states that “the Serious Injury Guide is designed to assist with the conduct of personal injury cases involving serious injuries and that are likely to involve a claim for future continuing loss. The parties may agree to operate the guide in relation to other multi-track cases where losses are nevertheless capped for a determinate period of time.” The rest of the guide remains unchanged.
Participants to the pilot are as follows:
The pilot will run until 31 January 2023. Pilot participants are encouraged to complete the following feedback form:
Feedback form for participants of pilot (Word document)
Any queries about the pilot should be directed to:
Abi Jennings, APIL abi.jennings@apil.org.uk
Dr Jeffrey Wale, FOIL jeffrey.wale@foil.org.uk
Below is a list of organisations that are supportive of the guide's aims and objectives.
As outlined at paragraph 7 of the guide, in the event that either party feels that the opposing handler is not acting in accordance with the spirit of the guide, the first step must always be to exhaust attempts to resolve the point of concern by dialogue/meeting. If such dialogue fails to allay concerns, contact should be made with the nominated contact point at the firm/insurer/handling agent in order to try to deal with the issue.
Those who would like to inform the user committee of recurring issues should contact one of the representatives below:
Association of Personal Injury Lawyers – Alice Taylor, alice.taylor@apil.org.uk
Forum of Insurance Lawyers – Dr Jeffrey Wale, jeffrey.wale@foil.org.uk
Where issues cannot be resolved through discussion, we encourage the parties to consider all available and appropriate methods of dispute resolution.
The Guide’s discussion process followed by escalation provides a framework to work collaboratively and resolve issues. The spirit of the Guide is that litigation and the court process should be an option of last resort.
For any other queries or further information about the Serious Injury Guide, please contact the one of the following representatives:
0115 943 5400
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