Ms Sara Moorhead:

We are saying the causes of the problems are not the causes the insurance companies have identified. Until they come and show those are the causes, we will not be in a position to provide huge solutions. However, we have some solutions. We have one solution which we are surprised has not happened. The new Legal Services Regulation Act provides for a legal costs adjudicator. That Act has been in place for a significant period but has not actually commenced. There is an establishment date of 1 October. That section of the Act is free-standing. It has always been welcomed by all of the legal profession as a much more transparent system for everybody regarding legal costs. Therefore, if there are issues about our legal costs - whether they are solicitors' legal costs or barristers' legal costs - that should be dealt with speedily by the insurers and the plaintiffs. That is one practical solution. If the insurers are right that legal costs have greatly increased, the introduction of the legal costs adjudicator, properly financed - it is supposed to be self-financing, in fact - would be a very significant improvement to the whole thing. That is one constructive thing we have come up with.

We have also welcomed - if it is properly done - a revised book of quantum. There is no point in putting something into statute, as happened in 2004, and then leaving it for 12 years without regularly reviewing it.

If the book of quantum is properly done and revised, that should assuage some of the insurance companies' concerns about valuations of awards and whether awards are increasing. These are two constructive ways to move forward with the insurers.

There is an absence of information from insurers. It is why we cannot be as constructive as we would like until they give us the information. If they give us more, we may be in a position to be more constructive in terms of what the future holds. As consumers and representatives of consumers, we are concerned about the level of increase in premiums.