Stricter regulation halves the number of personal injury claims companies in two years

updated on 08 June 2015

The number of personal injury claims management companies has fallen by over half since the start of 2013, figures released by the Ministry of Justice’s Claims Management Regulation Unit (CMRU) have revealed.

At the start of 2013, there were 2,300 CMCs operating in the United Kingdom, but by March 2015 the number had fallen to 979. As reported by Legal Futures, the CMRU has been able to impose large fines on rule-breaking companies since it gained new powers in 2014, while regulation fees have also increased. The CMRU states in its annual report that smaller CMCs have also been particularly hard hit by the cuts in portal fees, ban on inducements and the Jackson reforms, as well as the ban on personal injury referral fees.

The CMC’s report added: "We have ongoing concerns about the activities of some CMCs specialising in packaged bank account claims and are monitoring this market closely as part of our programme of audits and visits. Some CMCs have been presenting poorly prepared claims to banks and others have been seeking to prevent banks from communicating directly with their customers."