“Despite repeated assertions from the Government that the OIC is ‘working well’, there is still a clear divergence between the number of claims and the number of people being injured,” said Mike Benner, APIL chief executive.

“Comparing claims data from the Department for Work and Pensions with claims data from the OIC, as the Government has done, is not the way to establish whether access to justice is being served because it does not take injury levels into account.

“There has been an undeniable collapse in the number of road injury victims seeking recompense since the OIC was introduced, at the same time there has been a very steep rise in the number of road casualties. Claims numbers have fallen by a quarter, while the number of road casualties has increased by nearly a fifth according to Department for Transport figures,” he said.

“By not making reference to the number of injuries suffered, the Government’s assessment misses the point. A justice system in which victims of negligence are not retrieving redress cannot ever be deemed a success”.