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In 1985 a committee was formed to advise Rehab UK, a commercial rehabilitation provider, about the operation of their Disability Assessment Unit, which was set up to assess the treatment and rehabilitation needs of accident victims.
The concept had gradually been developed , by one or two far-seeing insurers, that if they were going to have to pay for medical treatment anyway, through the compensation claims system, it would be much better for both the claimant and the insurer to make funds available at the start of the claims process rather than at the end (see Rehabilitation).
The advisory committee comprised representatives of the insurance industry and claimant and defendant lawyers, under the chairmanship of Norman Cottington (then of Highway Motor Policies).
Eventually the committee severed its formal links with Rehab UK and became an independent committee.
It produced a Code of Practice for Rehab UK under which lawyers and insurers could access rehabilitation services for accident victims outside the litigation process, putting the needs of the victim first. This Code later formed the basis of the IUA-sponsored Code of Best Practice, launched in 1999.
Since then BICMA’s constant search for ways to improving standards has seen it:-
- set up registers of solicitors and insurers who support the Rehab Code
- produce the Practitioner’s Guide to supplement the Code of Best Practice
- facilitate the creation of the Case Management Society of the UK.
- hold many conferences to promote the practice of early intervention and rehabilitation
- develop a model agreement for those wishing to work more effectively within the Code
- write an employers’ Guide for risk and line managers
- produce a generic set of standards for Rehab providers and a register of those committed to it
- establish with the National Mediation Council a scheme for resolving rehab-related issues
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