The marketing around the Official Injury Claim portal has been so abysmal that most people probably still don’t know it exists
Andy Cullwick, head of marketing at First4Lawyers
They were a long-time coming, but former chancellor George Osborne’s whiplash reforms finally came into effect earlier this year. And with them, the Official Injury Claim (OIC) portal.
It was a landmark day for many working in the motor and insurance industries. But for Joe public, one of the most significant changes to affect personal injury claims for decades will have largely passed them by.
Why? Because despite the new government portal—supposedly designed to simplify the process and save injured parties from instructing one of those pesky lawyers—the marketing around it has been so abysmal that most people probably still don’t know it exists.
Could this be why, in the first three months since its launch, fewer than 10% of claims processed came from people who were acting alone without legal representation?
Early days
The figures—45,718 claims between the end of May and the end of July—are certainly a lot lower than expected, but there are several factors to consider as to why that might be.
Firstly, problems when the po