IUA Circular 009/26

Rehabilitation in Official Injury Claims

Date: 3 February 2026

Interest Groups: IUA member contacts, casualty and claims interests

Subject: Publication of an Addendum to the Rehabilitation Code 2015 - Rehabilitation in Official Injury Claims (OICs)

Downloads accompanying this circular:

Addendum to the Rehabilitation Code 2015

Press Release

The Rehabilitation Code 2015

IUA Contact: Chris Jones, Chief Executive 020 7617 4444

We are pleased to make available a new addendum to the Rehabilitation Code which seeks to improve the delivery of rehabilitation in Official Injury Claims (OIC) Portal claims. The Addendum has been developed by a cross-industry working group representing claimant, defendant and consumer organisations.

Attached to this circular are the Addendum, a press release on it and the original, existing Rehabilitation Code 2015. These documents and others related to the Rehabilitation Code are also available here on the IUA's website.

Background

In 2015 the IUA, together with the Association of British Insurers (ABI), published a new version of the Rehabilitation Code. Originally issued in 1999 the voluntary code promotes the use of rehabilitation when settling personal injury claims and provides a framework in which insurers and claimant lawyers can collaborate to consider the health needs of injured people. The Code also contains a separate, streamlined section for lower value claims, defined as those with a value of up to £25,000.

Several years ago, in the light of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) consultation on ‘Reforming the Soft Tissue (whiplash) Claims Process’ (which raised the issue of rehabilitation in low value RTA claims), it was considered that there was some dissatisfaction within the claims sector with the way rehabilitation was provided. Claimant representatives had concerns that some claimants failed to receive the treatment they needed in a timely fashion; and compensators were concerned at a lack of control and governance and the high cost of rehabilitation.

In its consultation, the MOJ was seeking input on rehabilitation with a suggestion to develop proposals with cross-industry support to put to the MOJ. With a view to identifying steps which could improve the position a number of market bodies led by the Forum of Insurance Lawyers (FOIL) and including the IUA, ABI, members of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and the Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS) and several rehabilitation providers convened to consider this issue further. In due course, the Association of Consumer Support Organisations (ACSO) joined the discussions, to represent the consumer voice.

The now published Addendum outlines a proposed new process that could become the default method used to provide rehabilitation in the majority of OIC claims, whether by represented or unrepresented claimants.