Injury compensation schemes are important mechanisms for rehabilitation and recovery following road trauma and workplace accidents. However, compensation processes are also a risk factor for claimants. Research shows that involvement in compensation processes is stressful for many claimants and impacts negatively on their physical and psychological health.
The reasons are multifactorial. Further, the evidence is limited in scope and quality due to difficulties with research design and measurement of multiple schematic, process and claimant-related factors. Lawyer involvement has been consistently linked with claimant experiences and outcomes, in both positive and negative ways. However, there is no convincing evidence about the precise mechanisms involved. The evidence fails to account for the complexities of lawyer use alongside multiple actor dynamics or for lawyer use as a secondary outcome of claimants’ dissatisfaction with process.
This rapid review was driven by an interest in developing a platform for future research on claims management and claimant outcomes. As such, the objective of the review was to synthesise the evidence in relation to the circumstances and functions of lawyer engagement in personal injury claims, claimant characteristics associated with lawyer use, and the general benefits and concerns reported in the literature.
Forty-nine published papers and reports, comprising 43 journal articles and six reports, the majority originate from Australia, were reviewed. Both fault and no-fault schemes are associated with positive and negative claimant outcomes and lawyer involvement. The complexities and nuances of scheme design cannot be overlooked when considering claimant experiences and outcomes.
Regardless of scheme design and country differences, claimant experiences and outcomes of both transport and work-related compensation are systemically linked, and both lawyer use and poor outcomes are related to multiple system factors.
Administrative and communication mechanisms are important in claimant experiences and outcomes. These include the operating procedures and processes of multiple agencies, insurance personnel and other compensation actors, including lawyers, who have varying purposes when interfacing with claimants and each other, during the compensation process. Lack of transparency and objectivity across the lifespan of a claim can be perceived as a sign of unfair handling of claims. The operating mechanisms of multiple actors, shape how claims are handled, the approval and decision-making processes and timeframes, what claimants are exposed to and how responsive they perceive the process. The burden of paperwork and assessments, conflicts and inconsistencies in opinions contribute to a sense of being mistrusted, dissatisfaction and motivation to use lawyers. The actions, communications and decisions of the network of actors and how these relate to broader schematic factors has not been fully accounted for in understanding the association between lawyer use, claimant experiences and outcomes.