Your report determines
the value of your claim.
Most claimants skim their medical report and approve it. The report is the single document that determines how a claim is valued. Approving it without checking it properly can affect the outcome of the claim.
The medical report is not a formality. It is the point at which the claim is effectively defined. The prognosis period it records places the injury within a tariff band. The tariff band determines the settlement value. Everything that follows — the insurer's offer, the negotiation, the final figure — flows from what the report says.
Once approved, the report cannot be changed through the standard OIC process. The review window that exists before approval is the only opportunity to raise a factual concern. This page explains what the report contains, what to check before approving it and what to do if something is wrong.
There are four things worth understanding about the medical report. Each one is explained in a section below.
What the report contains
The independent medical report is prepared by a MedCo-accredited examiner with no connection to the insurer or to the claimant. It records four things — each of which plays a different role in how the claim is valued.
The examination is typically conducted in person and takes 20 to 30 minutes. The examiner will ask for an account of the accident, a description of symptoms at the time and since and an explanation of how the injury has affected daily life. A physical assessment is also carried out.
The report is based on what is said during that appointment and what the examiner observes. It is not a review of GP notes — it is an independent assessment conducted on the day. What is said, and how fully, directly shapes what the report records.
The prognosis period is the examiner's assessment of how long symptoms have lasted or are expected to last from the date of the accident. This is the most important figure in the report. It is the direct input into the tariff calculation — and the tariff determines the settlement value.
The tariff is structured in bands: up to 3 months, 3–6 months, 6–9 months and so on up to 24 months. The band the prognosis period falls into determines which tariff value applies. The prognosis period is particularly important because even a small difference at the boundary of a band can affect the value of the claim by several hundred pounds.
The examiner classifies the injuries present. Whiplash injuries — soft tissue injuries to the neck, back or shoulders — attract tariff values set by government regulation. Non-whiplash injuries, such as a knee or wrist injury, follow a different valuation route. Claims involving both types are known as mixed injury claims.
The classification matters because the valuation basis changes depending on what type of injury is recorded. If the report classifies an injury incorrectly — for example, grouping a separate shoulder injury within the whiplash entry — the basis on which the claim is valued changes.
The report includes an account of how the injury has affected daily life — sleep, work, driving, household tasks, childcare, exercise and social activities. This section is based almost entirely on what is said during the examination. If an effect is not mentioned at the appointment, it is unlikely to appear in the report.
What to check before approving
Before approving the report, there are a small number of points that are worth checking carefully. This is the only point at which errors can be raised through the standard OIC process. Once the report is approved, that window closes permanently.
The OIC portal notifies the claimant when the medical report is ready to review. On average, this happens around 29 days after the examination. There is no requirement to approve it immediately. Reading it in full before making any decision is the most important step — if anything is factually wrong, that is the moment to raise it, not after approval.
This is the most important figure in the report. Compare what the examiner has written about prognosis duration against your own experience. If symptoms lasted longer than the period stated — or if they were still ongoing at the examination and the future prognosis appears too short — that is a factual matter worth raising.
The test is not whether you disagree with the examiner's opinion. It is whether the report contains a factual inaccuracy — something that does not correctly reflect what was said at the examination, or that contradicts documented medical history.
Read how each injury is described. Does it match the experience? Are all affected areas recorded? If a specific injury was mentioned during the examination and does not appear in the report, that is a factual omission. If the injury classification does not seem to reflect what was actually described, that is worth querying.
In particular, check whether injuries beyond the primary whiplash — a separate shoulder problem, a knee injury, a psychological reaction — are recorded as separate entries. If they are not, the valuation basis may be affected.
Does the impact section reflect what was said during the examination? Significant effects that are missing — time off work, inability to drive, disrupted sleep over an extended period — are worth raising if they were mentioned at the appointment but are absent from the report.
Confirm that the report correctly records the name, date of birth, date of the accident and the account of how the accident occurred. Errors in these details are less common, but a discrepancy that contradicts other documents within the claim can create complications later in the process.
The review window is the only point errors can be corrected
Once the medical report is approved through the OIC portal, it becomes a fixed part of the claim. The insurer's offer will be calculated from it. There is no mechanism within the standard OIC process to amend the report after approval — even if information later comes to mind that was not mentioned at the examination.
This is not a reason to delay without purpose, but it is a reason to read the report properly before approving it. If something is wrong, the process provides a route to raise it — but only before approval, not after.
Compensation for whiplash injuries is based on fixed tariff bands linked to the prognosis period in the medical report. The band the prognosis falls into determines the settlement value for the injury itself.
A report recording a prognosis of 2 months and 3 weeks produces a different tariff value to one recording 3 months and 1 week — even though the real difference in time is small. Between the first two bands alone, the difference is £290. Figures last verified March 2026. For accidents before 31 May 2025, different values apply — see the full tariff reference.
How to raise a factual error
The OIC portal provides a mechanism to query the medical report before approval. It is important to understand what the process is designed to address — and what it is not.
It is important to distinguish between a factual error and a clinical opinion. A factual error is something objectively incorrect — incorrect accident details, an injury described at the examination that does not appear in the report, or a prognosis period that does not reflect what was discussed. A clinical opinion is the examiner's professional judgment — for example, their assessment of expected recovery time.
The query process is for factual corrections. The examiner cannot be instructed to reach a different clinical conclusion. They can be asked to correct something that is factually inaccurate.
The OIC portal allows a query to be submitted before the report is approved. The query is routed back to the examiner, who reviews it and either amends the report or explains why they have not. The examiner is not required to change the report because it has been queried — but they are required to consider it and respond.
Being specific is more effective than being general. Rather than stating that the prognosis period is wrong, explain what the symptoms were, for how long and why that differs from what is recorded. If GP records, prescription history, or a symptom diary support the correction, reference them.
If the examiner does not amend the report and the concern relates to something that significantly affects the value of the claim, the OIC process does allow further escalation — though the routes available at that stage go beyond what this guidance covers. That is a situation where regulated legal advice is the appropriate route.
Preparing for the examination
The examination produces the report. What is said in it shapes what the report records. Preparation means making sure an accurate and complete account is given — not presenting the injury differently from how it actually was.
Preparing for the medical examination means thinking through the experience completely and accurately — not inflating it. Exaggeration is usually counterproductive: an examiner who suspects it will note that in the report and it can affect how the report is written. The goal is a full and accurate account — including the effects that are easy to understate because they have become familiar.
Examinations often take place months after the accident, by which point symptoms may have reduced from their peak. The prognosis period is an assessment of the injury's duration — not only its severity on the examination day. Describing how symptoms were in the weeks immediately after the accident, when they were likely at their worst, is part of giving an accurate account.
Accidents can affect more than the obvious primary injury. Consider whether the accident caused headaches, disrupted sleep, anxiety about driving, reduced ability to exercise, difficulty with household tasks, or effects on work. If any of these apply, mention them. If they do not apply, do not mention them. The goal is accuracy — not a comprehensive list of every possible effect.
A record of symptoms — even informal notes made in the weeks after the accident — helps provide a more accurate account of how the injury progressed. It also gives the examiner something specific to reference if the report is later queried.
The medical report is not just a formality
It is the point at which the claim is effectively defined. The prognosis period it records places the injury in a tariff band. The tariff band determines the settlement value. The review window before approval is the only opportunity to correct something that is wrong. Reading the report carefully before approving it is the single most important step a claimant can take at this stage of the process.
Last reviewed: 17 March 2026
ClaimTalk provides general guidance only. Not legal advice. Not affiliated with the Official Injury Claim portal or any government body.
ClaimTalk cannot respond to questions about individual claims. If you need advice specific to your situation, a regulated solicitor is the appropriate route.