Expert Witness Journal Issue 67 June/July 2026 - Flipbook - Page 16
Funding rehabilitation for major
trauma injury with Rehabilitation
Code and interim payments
by Claire Roantree, Partner at Boyes Turner LLP.
Rehabilitation Code funding should be provided
regardless of whether the defendant or their insurers
have accepted responsibility (fault or liability) for
the collision, accident or other events that caused
the claimant’s injuries.
It takes more than emergency or acute hospital
treatment to recover from a major trauma injury.
Severely injured people need ongoing support from a
range of therapies, such as physiotherapy, OT, speech
and language therapy and psychological treatment,
long after their discharge from emergency, trauma
and acute hospital care. This ongoing form of
treatment is known as rehabilitation.
Where the injured claimant has su昀昀ered serious
injury, major trauma, complex or multiple injuries,
a case manager will usually be instructed to prepare
an immediate needs assessment (INA). The INA
sets out the injured person and their family’s needs,
and makes recommendations for rehabilitation
and support which, if agreed, will be funded by the
defendant’s insurer. Rehabilitation Code funding is
usually paid directly by the insurer to the injured
person’s rehabilitation provider.
The timing and e昀昀ectiveness of a severely injured
person’s rehabilitation after a major trauma injury
can have a life-changing impact on their long-term
physical and psychological recovery, their mobility
and independence and their quality of life. That’s
why we believe that our injured clients shouldn’t
have to wait for their rehabilitation until their claim
has concluded. We prioritise securing funding
for timely, personalised, coordinated specialist
rehabilitation for our injured client in every major
trauma and serious personal injury claim.
Rehabilitation Code payments are not counted
as advance payments from the claimant’s
compensation, and are not a昀昀ected by any
proportional reductions in their compensation,
such as discounts for litigation risk or contributory
negligence. This enables the injured person and
their family to rest in the knowledge that the costs
of their rehabilitation are paid over and above their
昀椀nancial compensation and will not be deducted
from their settlement or compensation award. Given
this advantage for the claimant, where contributory
negligence or the claimant’s need for rehabilitation
is disputed, the defendant’s insurer may decline to
make a Rehabilitation Code payment but, instead,
agree to make an interim payment.
In most cases, we are able to secure funding for
rehabilitation from the insurer of the person (such
as a driver) or organisation (such as an employer)
that was responsible for the injury, via Rehabilitation
Code funding or an interim payment.
What is the Rehabilitation Code and how
is it used to fund rehabilitation?
The Rehabilitation Code sets out an approved
framework for the injured persons’ solicitor and
the defendant’s insurers (the paying compensator)
to work together to prioritise the injured person’s
rehabilitation. The aim of the Rehabilitation Code is
to promote the use of rehabilitation at an early stage
in the claims process, to help the injured person
make the best and quickest possible medical, social,
vocational and psychological recovery.
The Rehabilitation Code does not apply to medical
negligence claims.
What is an interim payment?
An interim payment is a part payment of the
claimant’s compensation that is paid in advance
by the defendant’s insurer or compensator during
their personal injury or medical negligence claim.
The amount of the interim payment can vary
signi昀椀cantly. Interim payments are often used to pay
Under the Rehabilitation Code, funding is provided
by the defendant’s insurance company to support
the injured person’s rehabilitation and treatment
costs whilst a compensation claim is underway.
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
14
JUNE 2026
