Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many meetings his Department has had with representatives of the insurance industry to discuss changing the formula for calculating deductions from personal injury awards.

In separate meetings on 2 March 2017 Ministry of Justice officials met with the Association of British Insurers and then with the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers to discuss issues arising from the Written Ministerial Statement about the personal injury discount rate made by the then Lord Chancellor on 27 February (http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2017-02-27/HCWS503).

The department has not had any other meetings with representatives of the insurance industry or the victims of accidents to discuss changing how the personal injury discount rate is to be set since 7 December 2016 when the then Lord Chancellor announced her intention to complete the then current review of the rate by 31 January 2017. Officials from the Ministry of Justice have, however, been present at meetings since that date with insurer and claimant interests on other subjects at which the subject of the discount rate has been raised, including a meeting with insurers and representatives of the insurance industry chaired by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 28 February (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-meets-insurance-sector-leaders-to-discuss-personal-injury-discount-rate).

The proposed changes to the way in which the discount rate is set could potentially affect the size of all lump sum awards of personal injury damages for future pecuniary loss. The size of the change would depend on the rate set and the composition of the award in question. The potential effect of the changes is analysed in the impact assessment published alongside the Command Paper The Personal Injury Discount Rate How it should be set in future Draft Legislation (Cm 9500). Copies of both documents were placed in the Libraries of both Houses on 7 September. Copies are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/personal-injury-discount-rate-how-it-should-be-set-in-future and

https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/personal-injury-discount-rate/ .