Premex Services

Mediation Agreement Guide

Mediation Overview

The Medico-Legal Reporting industry has spent the last 18 months dealing with the fallout from the Wollard v Fowler case which challenged the recoverability of “agency” fees in Predictable Cost Regime cases.

A mediation process has taken place and an agreement has been reached which will bring an end to the majority of disputes over recoverability of fees in cases we have handled historically and are likely to deal with going forwards. This agreement will have an immediate positive impact on the time you and your fee earners have spent in the past and will need to spend going forwards on these disputes.  

The agreement has been drafted to bring predictability to the cost of GP, Orthopaedic and Accident & Emergency reports as well as peripheral areas including the cost of medical records and supplementary reports / questions of clarification.

The following matrix contains the figures that have been agreed. It is expected that these will very rapidly become the “industry standard” and will be recognised by all parties, including the courts, as “reasonable and proportionate” fees for those services which will be paid without recourse to breakdown of invoices or any other time consuming, disproportionate, approach to their settlement by the paying party.

The figures below are exclusive of any applicable VAT.

Pricing matrix

The list of participating insurers will be up dated regularly and can be found on the following websites:

www.premex.com

www.colemancoyle.com

www.beachcroft.co.uk

The Benefits

Mediation brings many benefits to the process of procuring medical reports, the main ones are listed below.

• Nomination process can be removed – speed of report production
• Agreed costings – reducing recoverability issues
• Invoices go direct to the third party for payment

2. Basic Process Flow

If you would like a copy of the basic process flow, please contact Daniel Chesney at Premex on 01204 478300.

3. Third Party Capture/Mandatory information Requirements

To enable cases to be processed through Mediation it is essential the following criteria is provided:

• Third party name and address
• Third party reference number
• On all RTA third party registration number
• Clients date of accident
• Clients date of birth

If these minimum requirements are not provided we will contact you at the following times during the life-cycle of a case:

• Instruction Date + 25 days
• Report Received

If any of the TPI details change through the life of the case it is important that we are contacted as soon as possible with the updated information.

4. Exceptions

As with any scheme of this type there will be certain circumstances which mean the case can not be progressed through the Mediation agreement.

Listed below, points 4.1 and 4.2, are such reasons for a case not proceeding through Mediation. In all these circumstances we will contact you advising the reason, or advising the action taken, and detailing the options available to you for this particular case.

4.1 Reasons for rejecting a case off a scheme.

• TPI not a scheme member
• Prison visit requested
• Home Visit requested
• 2 or more accidents in one report
• Third Party Details not provided
• Multi-Track case
• Expensive Expert
• Specialisation of the case

4.2 Reason for removing a case off a scheme

• Dispute in liability
• Expert type changes to one not included in the Mediation agreement
• Injured Party requests a shorter appointment distance
• TPI is not signed to the Mediation agreement

5. Experts

The Mediation agreement supports the use of our panel of experts. As alluded to in Point 1, the nomination process can be omitted from any future cases. You will be expected to use the wide variety of expert witnesses providing us with medical reports.

All our experts are frequently measured to ensure we only appoint the very best, both for quality and service, ensuring we deliver an accurate and timely medical report to our customers. To ensure their reports meet the highest standards experts attend our annual suite of training courses and their reports undergo stringent audits.

We also employ bespoke technology that reduces travelling times for your clients whilst appointing the experts that have the best availability to ensure the lifecycle of the case is kept to a minimum.

When you send an instruction we will allocate the most suitable expert in your clients area. If you request an expert of your own choice or one with a particular specialisation, it may fall outside the Mediation agreement.

Invoicing

6.1 Process

Once a case is verified onto a scheme, requests for payment will be sent directly to the third party insurer. A copy of the request for payment will be sent to you with a covering letter. This does not mean that the debt is not your responsibility.

If payment is received from the third party insurer you will receive a receipted VAT invoice.

If you have not received the VAT invoice when submitting your costs application to the third party insurer you must include any/ all requests for payment.

6.2 Solicitor Statement

The monthly statement that you receive will be altered to show any debt that is outstanding with the third party insurer on cases that have been validated for a scheme.

The debt will be removed from the Insurers account and placed back onto your account if outstanding for over 150 days. Your existing copy of the request for payment can be used when submitting your cost application.

7. Contact Numbers for help

Premex believe that Mediation will bring certainty and control to the process of procuring medical reports without lowering the service levels provided. It should allow the majority of cases to progress quicker with transparency within the process.

Our dedicated team is on hand to help you through the new process and answer any queries you may have now and in the future.

Premex Services

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