An insurance industry-backed body, which will randomly assign medical experts to assess soft tissue injury claims, will help reduce whiplash fraud, the Association of British Insurers has said.
The development of the new body, called MedCo, will be funded by the insurance industry and will go live before the end of the year, the trade body told The Actuary yesterday.
A spokeswoman for the ABI said 'the exact cost of [setting up the body] remains to be determined'.
MedCo will oversee an IT system that will select 'independent and accredited medical practitioners to claimant lawyers requesting a medical report', she said.
'The establishment of both the new body and the IT system are currently underway. We anticipate the new body overseeing this system to be up and running before the end of the year, with the IT system becoming operational towards the end of Q1 2015.'
The announcement of MedCo was made at the Motor Accident Solicitors Society Conference in Manchester on Friday.
Announcing the plan, James Dalton, the ABI's head of motor insurance, said making the IT system work was 'critically' important towards the delivery of fundamental reform of the medico-legal reporting system.
'Significant progress has been made so far: there is agreement on the Articles of Association underpinning the company and the MedCo website will be operational this month,' he said.
'We look forward to working with claimant lawyers, medical experts and the compensator community over the coming months to turn MedCo into reality.'