Arranging an Initial Medical Report

To start, you will need to register your claim on the Official Injury Claim Portal. Once the insurer has admitted liability (in full or part) you will be able to arrange your medical report.

You will be given the option of instructing a Doctor directly or using a Medical Reporting Organisation and before selecting a provider the OIC Portal advises you to contact each one you are offered to discuss your requirements (we can temporarily book an appointment for you at this stage – see ‘Our Process’ below)

Whichever option you choose, you do not need to pay for the report. As liability has been admitted the insurer is now responsible for the report fee and the MRO or medical expert will bill them directly

Why choose a Medical Reporting Organisation (MRO)?

MROs manage large numbers of experts throughout England & Wales and will be able to offer you a greater range of appointment options than if you were dealing with a Medical Expert directly.

As an MRO, we have access to around 40,000 appointments, with a range of experts across the country, at any one time.

Why choose us?

Connexus Medical Appointments (CMA) employs staff with close to 20 years’ experience of medical reporting services meaning you can be assured your claim handler will know how to help you with most if not all of the queries you may have along your claim journey. We have recently recruited additional staff with lengthy experience of dealing with Personal Injury claims at large law firms. This will give you access to a great wealth of knowledge you may not otherwise have had, especially considering you do not have legal representation as a Litigant in Person – you find some of the guidance difficult to apply to your particular case and our staff have the expertise to explain this to you in more depth and to point you in the right direction

MedCo sets minimum standards that all Medical Reporting Organisations (MROs) should meet. You can view the SLA requirements in full here - see page 46 onwards.

We are happy to provide you with a copy of our up to date performance figures which are reported in real time. Please let us know if you would like a copy either when you speak to us or you can email lipinfo@connexus.co.uk or call 0333 043 1070.

CMA is a Tier 2 MRO, meaning we have to meet the standards in green, below. However, we aim to also match the Tier 1 targets which are slightly more stringent, and they are highlighted in blue:

SLA ID SLA Description MedCo Target
SLA0a Time from instructions being received to an appointment being confirmed 100% within 3 working days
SLA0b Percentage of appointments being rearranged without the client being contacted Less than 5%
SLA1 Time from instructions being received to an appointment taking place 90% within 25 working days
SLA2 Time from instructions being received to the report being sent to you 80% within 35 working days
SLA2b Time from instructions being received to the report being sent to you if you need to delay the examination 80% within 25 working days
SLA3a Proportion of reports that require amendments because they do not meet the minimum clinical and non-clinical standards Less than 15%
SLA3b Time from receipt of a query regarding a report to sending the response from the medical expert 90% within 15 working days
SLA4a Time from receipt of phone enquiry to response 90% in 24 hours
SLA4b Time from receipt of written enquiry to response 90% in 48 hours
SLA5 Complaints 90% resolved within 20 working days
SLA6 Proportion of reports that meet the minimum non-clinical criteria Less than 10%
SLA7 Time from sending the report via the OIC Portal to us uploading the report data to MedCo 30 days
SLA8a Proportion of reports reviewed by our Chief Medical Officer that meet the Clinical standards set by MedCo 95%
ISO27001 (info security) audit 0 major non-conformities, less than 5 minor 90% in 48 hours
SLA10a The number of MedCo-related cases where personal data has been inappropriately disclosed in any 12 month period does not exceed 0.1% of cases

Our Process

If you call us prior to selecting a report provider on the Official Injury Claim Portal (OIC) we will happily discuss the available appointments with you and reserve a date and time temporarily. We can hold this appointment for 24 hours, however, it will only be confirmed once you select us on the OIC Portal

Once you do select us to provide your medical report we will receive a notification from the OIC Portal. As soon as we do, one of the following will happen:

  • If you contacted us before selecting CMA on the OIC Portal we will confirm your reserved appointment
  • If you have not contacted us prior to selection; we will call you within 1 business day to arrange a suitable appointment date. The appointment date will usually be within 4 weeks of you selecting CMA on the OIC Portal.
  • Your appointment should last a minimum of 15 minutes
  • We will try to book a face to face examination for you but this may not be possible while Covid-19 restrictions are in place. MedCo (an organisation which implements Government policy in medical reporting) has lifted the ban on video examinations and, with your consent, we may be able to arrange one of these for you. You can of course choose to wait until face to face appointments are available
  • We will send you the appointment details, once agreed, by SMS and email, if an email address is provided, or letter if one is not
  • If the appointment becomes inconvenient you can call or email us at our dedicated number 0333 043 10700333 043 1070 or dedicated email lipinfo@connexus.co.uk and we will gladly rearrange to a more convenient date & time. We are available from 8am to 7pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays
  • If you do need to cancel your appointment please give us at least 48 hours’ notice where possible. If you cancel with less notice or you do not attend the examination you may be personally liable for a DNA/Late Cancellation charge.
  • Your appointment will be with a Doctor who has experience in dealing with accident related injuries. They will have undertaken mandatory training through MedCo and they also undertake continuing professional development through MedCo to ensure they are up to date with the latest developments
  • No treatment will be provided at your appointment, but it will be recommended in the medical report if it is needed
  • Most, but not all, appointments will involve a physical examination to enable the expert to make an objective assessment of your injuries. If you wish, a friend or relative may accompany you during the examination. Alternatively, if you are attending the appointment alone but would still like a friend or relative to be present, please make the expert aware of this in advance.
  • The expert will ask detailed questions about how your injuries were caused, your symptoms (past and present) and your recovery. Please answer these questions honestly and provide as much detail as you can
  • You may find it useful to make a note of what treatment/medication you have received, how much time you had to take off from work and what assistance you required with day-to-day tasks. Take this with you to your appointment.

Once we have received your medical report, we will upload it to the Official Injury Claim Portal (OIC) and we will notify you by text message and/or email that it is ready for you to review. We will usually receive the report within 1 week of your appointment.

The Content of your Medical Report

All medical reports must contain the minimum information set out by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The MoJ has published the ‘RTA3 medical report form’ which you can find here.

Reports do not have to be in the exact structure of the RTA3 Form but they should contain the same information. Many of our Medical Experts will use report writing software which ensures all the detail required by the MoJ is contained within your Medical Report.

The content required by the MoJ is:

Claimant’s Details

This section contains your address, date of birth and accident date among other information. It also notes whether or not you provided ID – it is important that you should provide 2 forms of ID at your appointment, one of which should be photographic.

History and Present Position Reported by Claimant

The medical expert will ask you for brief description of the accident, your immediate symptoms and any treatment you had or are having. This section should also include details of any improvement or worsening of symptoms, including dates. In the case of injuries/symptoms fully recovered, specifies the date of recovery. This will also detail any symptoms you had in the injured area prior to the accident – it is very important that you tell the doctor about any other accidents you have been involved in so that they can assess your symptoms properly

Employment Position / Education and Consequential Effects

This section will note the effects of the accident on your employment or education, including if you had to take time off, whether you could perform your usual duties/study and any other practical problems or financial losses.

You will also be asked about your mental health since the accident and restrictions in other areas of life, for example; hobbies, recreation, housework, gardening, travel or holidays, shopping.

Past Medical History and Examination / Diagnosis, Opinion & Prognosis

The doctor will ask you about your past medical history. Please be honest and give as much detail as you can - Even if you don’t think something is relevant the expert may do. The doctor will also record their examination of your injuries in this section.

Occasionally the expert may ask, or be asked, to review your medical records in this section to enable them to provide a complete opinion within their report. This does not happen often when getting your first report and we will contact you to explain the process should the doctor need your records.

The expert will give their overall opinion of your position to date and they will deal with the link between the accident and your injuries. Where possible, the expert will state how long it would be expected for your symptoms to return to a pre-accident level if they have not already done so. Where a prognosis cannot be given the expert will advise why and confirm if further information, or if a report from another type of expert is required.

Seatbelts

The report must confirm whether or not you were wearing a seatbelt. If you were not wearing a seatbelt the expert will ask if you are exempt from wearing one. Please answer these questions honestly.

If you were not wearing a seatbelt the expert will advise how this might have affected the symptoms you have experienced.

Future Treatment and Rehabilitation

The doctor may feel that you need further investigations such as X-rays or MRI Scans so that they can provide a prognosis. This section will also detail any treatment that would be beneficial to you such as physiotherapy.

Statement of Truth

This is a legal requirement of every expert. This should be signed and dated. Following the Statement of Truth you will find a list of the expert’s qualifications and CV along with any references used in reaching their prognosis

What to do next

Please log in to your Official Injury Claim (OIC) account and check that the report is accurate, and that no information is missing. You should do this as soon as possible. You have the right to challenge us on matters of fact contained in the report, or on matters of fact in any other correspondence used by the doctor when compiling their report.

If there are any factual errors or missing info or if you feel the contents do not match what you discussed with the expert, you will be able to request amendments through the OIC Portal. We will receive a notification from that your request has been made and we will ask the doctor to consider the changes you have requested.

After the doctor has sent their response and, if the report still requires amendment, you will go through the same process of making your comments through the OIC Portal. We will call you if there are any problems in dealing with your request. It may be that some of the amendments you requested initially cannot be made but we will explain this clearly and try to resolve matters to your satisfaction*.

Once you are happy that the report is accurate you can confirm your agreement through the OIC Portal. The report will then be sent to the Insurer. If the report still requires amendment you will go through the same process of making your comments through the OIC Portal.

The Insurer may then make you an offer of compensation or if further reports are needed, they may make the arrangements for you. Likewise, if treatment is recommended in your report the Insurer may off to arrange it if you have not already started it elsewhere.

*If we are unable to get the report amended to your satisfaction you can ask us to escalate the matter for review by our Senior Management. If you still aren’t satisfied following the further review you can ask MedCo (our regulator for these types of report) to review the matter for you – this can be done by emailing enquiries@medco.org.uk, quoting your MedCo Case ID (we can provide this if you need it). We will, however, do everything we possibly can to resolve any complaint you may have before it gets to this stage

If you have any questions you can contact us via one of the following, dedicated methods for unrepresented claimants (Litigants in Person)

Phone: 0333 043 10700333 043 1070
Email: lipinfo@connexus.co.uk
Mon - Fri 8am to 7pm | Sat 9am to 1pm
Post:
CMA – LIP
1210 Centre Park Square,
Warrington,
WA1 1RU

Roles and Responsibilities

Your Role, Rights and Responsibility as our client:

You should be open and honest in your dealings with us and our medical expert(s). It is very important that you provide the medical expert an accurate description of the accident in which you were involved as well as of the injuries you sustained.

You should also be open about your past medical history and ensure you mention any previous or subsequent accidents to the doctor.

You have the right to challenge us on matters of fact contained in the report, or on matters of fact in any other correspondence used by the doctor when compiling their report.

Role, Rights and Responsibility of our expert:

The role of the medical expert is to discuss your injuries and carry out an examination to enable them to produce a medical report that can be used in your claim.

The overriding duty of a medical expert is to the Court and not the person or company paying for or arranging the report.

All experts are expected to produce completely independent medical evidence.

Role and Responsibility of CMA:

CMA is a MedCo accredited Medical Reporting Organisation (MRO) and our role is to arrange an examination for you with one of our doctors who will have undergone specific training for this purpose.

Following the appointment, we will provide you with your medical report.

We will deal with any questions you may have for the expert and we will deal directly with the insurer for payment of the report.

It is our responsibility to provide you with a high quality service, explain our process properly and to assist you where it is within our power to do so and to point you in the right direction if we cannot.

Frequently asked questions

The medical expert will provide a medical report detailing the injuries you sustained in your accident and an opinion on how long it took or will take to recover. You will need this report to be able to value your claim correctly if you are an unrepresented claimant. If you have legal representation, then they will advise you.

For GPs – we will contact you to book a suitable date with one of our experts. We aim to do this within a day of receiving your referral
For consultants – the doctor will normally contact you directly to arrange a suitable date

We usually arrange an appointment at least 4 weeks post accident as this allows your symptoms to settle. If the accident was more than 4 weeks ago we can usually have you seen by a GP within 2 weeks of receiving your referral.

No. The expert will need to determine how well you have recovered from your injuries. If they saw you within a few days of the accident/incident, it would be hard for them to do this. If you have suffered very serious injuries in the accident, your appointment with the expert will likely be deferred until such a time as you are making a recovery, so the longer-term impact of your injuries is better known.

No

Advise us as soon as possible as this could result in a DNA Charge (Did Not Attend) which you may be personally liable for.

Your case will then be delayed and non-attendance may result in a fee which you may be personally liable for. The expert may also be unwilling to offer a further appointment.

Simply be prepared for the questioning nature of the examination: our expert has to be thorough as they will be acting as a witness to the court and will need as much detail as possible as to give an accurate and informed opinion. You may be asked to complete a questionnaire before the appointment.

Please arrive at least 10 minutes before your appointment, leaving enough time to park. If you arrive late, our expert may not have enough time to see you and you may be charged a fee for the unattended appointment.

You need to bring 2 forms of identification to your examination, one of which should be photographic ID. You should also bring your completed questionnaire if you have received one.

Appointments vary in length depending on what type of medical expert you are seeing. As a rough guide, a GP examination will take at least 15 minutes, a Consultant examination around 30 minutes and a Psychological examination around 45 minutes to an hour..

Most, but not all, appointments will involve a physical examination to enable the expert to make an objective assessment of your injuries. If you wish, a friend or relative may accompany you during the examination. Alternatively, if you are attending the appointment alone but would still like a friend or relative to be present, please make the expert aware of this in advance.

The expert will ask detailed questions about how your injuries were caused, your symptoms (past and present) and your recovery.

You may find it useful to make a note of what treatment/medication you have received, how much time you had to take off from work and what assistance you required with day-to-day tasks. Take this with you to your appointment.

Treatment will not be provided at your examination although the expert may tell you that they will make a recommendation for treatment in their report. This treatment will then be arranged, where applicable, by your solicitor or insurer.

In most cases we will receive your medical report within 14 days of your examination. We will forward the report to you (if you are unrepresented) your solicitor or insurer and they will then contact you to discuss its contents and arrange any treatment which has been recommended by the expert.

The expert examining you will may need to see all of your medical records so they are aware of any pre-existing conditions. This will enable them to reach an informed opinion and give a definitive prognosis. It is unlikely that your first report will need medical records to be reviewed but if you later see a consultant they will need to see your full medical records. We will contact you if the need arises.