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Making the ban on paying referral fees for personal injury work a criminal offence is among a range of changes to part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill that will be put to the House of Lords this week, after peers inflicted six defeats on the government over its legal aid reforms.

Personal injury firms need scale to survive in future, a Manchester law firm has warned as it gears up for a £3m investment into growing its practice. Express Solicitors is expanding ahead of ABSs, the referral fee ban and the extended RTA portal.

The government’s plans to reform the county courts have attracted criticism from both claimant and defendant lawyers as well as costs specialists – albeit for different reasons, with the lack of detail a particular bugbear.

MPs have accused personal injury solicitors and insurers of losing sight “of the interests of their customers as a whole by encouraging claims to be maximised”. They called for action over the level of fees paid to lawyers while questioning the effectiveness of the referral fee ban.

There is a “growing lobby” to stop claims management companies, solicitors and insurers from using alternative business structures to get around the ban on referral fees, it was claimed yesterday. Insurers were also asked to be honest about whether motor premiums will go down after the ban.