The Association of Medical Reporting Organisations (AMRO) is to offer insurers fixed fees on accident and emergency, and orthopaedic medical reports.

The move, in a sector thought to be worth around £80m a year, will speed up settlements and decrease costs for defendant insurers, AMRO claimed.

AMRO vice-chairman Alexander MacLachlan said: "We are trying to align our interests to those of the insurer, who wants the lowest cost possible, to the claimant who wants the fastest possible settlement.

"We also need to get these reports in as early as possible to open up the possibility of rehabilitation."

Though MacLachlan declined to name the costs to insurers, the likely price of an orthopaedic report is around £450 to £500 with an accident and emergency report coming in at £375.

MacLachlan said: "This is a seismic shift. There are a lot of internal changes to be made to systems to make this work. But by offering fixed fees we are saving insurers a lot of money by speeding up the process."

AMRO represents around 60% of the UK medical reporting industry. It currently operates a similar scheme with GP reports, which are fixed at £195.