The Lord Chancellor's Department has issued a consultation paper on whether courts should have the power to order periodical payments to successful claimants in personal injury cases.
Under the current system, the majority of damages payments made are lump sums - periodical payment orders can only be made if both parties consent.
If the system is updated following the consultation, courts will have the power to order a periodical payment without consent from the parties involved.
The Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, is in favour of increasing the number of periodical payments made.
He said: "Periodical payments better reflect the purpose of compensation, which is to restore the claimant, so far as is possible, to the financial position he or she was in prior to the accident.
"Periodical payments should ensure that injured people receive the compensation to which they are entitled for so long as it is needed."
He added that such payments could also give insurers greater choice on how payments are funded, and could save the NHS and the taxpayer money.
Responses to the consultation are required by 7 June 2002.
