Mobile Doctors is to appeal a decision by the High Court which allows insurers to use a legal loophole to escape paying medical agency fees.
The High Court ruled in December that liability insurers could avoid paying fees to medical agencies which assist in formulating medical reports for the insurer.
The Association of Medical Reporting Organisations (AMRO) said it was “disappointed” with the decision which is “out of touch with current industry practice”.
AMRO said whilst the case came to court, the Civil Justice Council (CJC) had begun brokering a deal between medical agencies and insurers over how much they are paid.
Insurer Zenith, which brought the case to the courts in 2004, said it had since signed up to the CJC agreement.
Zenith head of claims Trevor Webb said: “We are now of the view that paying an agency to obtain the report speeds up the production of a medical report and can improve its quality.”
Webb urged insurers to sign up to the CJC agreement before the appeal reached the courts: “I would urge everybody to participate in discussions to bring proportionality of costs,” he said.
