Claims Portal Limited (formerly known as RTA Portal Co) has been preparing the software for an extended Claims Portal, as planned by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The company has been working towards a start date for the extended Claims Portal of 01 April 2013. As the Protocols, Forms and Rules have not yet been finalised, the work has been carried out on the basis of drafts provided by the MoJ.
Claims Portal Limited is now continuing with that work while waiting for two decisions, both of which are outside its control and may impact on the start date.
First, the Civil Procedure Rule Committee (CPRC) will decide the final form of the Protocols, Forms and Rules. It is anticipated that this will be on 8 February. When the Protocols etc are available in final form Claims Portal Limited will be able to compare them with the drafts it has been working on, consider the extent to which any changes mean that the software needs to be updated and then estimate the possible start date by reference to the time necessary to make the changes. In estimating the necessary time it is necessary to allow for the crucial testing of the functionality of the system before it is rolled out. At present Claims Portal does not know if software updates will be necessary or whether it will be possible to use the software as built with some manual work-rounds.
Secondly, the company awaits the Justice Secretary’s verdict on the start date. On 21 December the MoJ announced that, “Following a legal challenge the Justice Secretary is now considering afresh the timing for implementation of the extended scheme. Further details will be announced in the New Year.”
When both of these decisions have been made Claims Portal Limited will provide a further update. Meanwhile, there is sufficient information available to provide some valuable information to users and potential users in a series of free February talks being arranged by Claims Portal Ltd. The Talks will be on the 19th, 21st and 28th February in Manchester, London and Cardiff respectively. Further details will be communicated with users shortly.
Tim Wallis, independent Chairman of Claims Portal Limited, said: “We want to introduce users to the extended Claims Portal and provide them with an understanding of how the Portal works. We hope to provide assistance to users in how to interact with the extended portal and how to best to use it. The final version of the new Protocols, Forms and Rules are not currently available but we shall provide separate workshops on the Protocols once they are available.”
The company will continue to work closely with the MoJ to provide realistic information on the feasibility of timescales. Additionally, Portal users will be provided with regular technical updates and information on any requirements received by the company regarding the timetable, as further information becomes available.
