Claimant Participation Opinion™

A Claimant Participation Opinion, or CPO, is a structured external opinion on a claimant’s ability, readiness and support requirements for effective participation in a live claim.

It considers matters such as engagement, process understanding, evidence readiness, account consistency, practical availability, expectations and support requirements. It then presents an overall participation opinion, priority actions and a decision-maker summary.

No.

A CPO is a claimant-participation and decision-support product. It does not determine legal merits, liability, quantum or prospects of success, and it does not replace legal advice or Counsel’s Opinion.

Where legal analysis is required, it should be obtained separately from an appropriately authorised legal adviser.

No.

Within Competition Appeal Tribunal proceedings, CPO commonly means Collective Proceedings Order. The Mediatasks Claimant Participation Opinion is a separate commercial and operational assessment product.

It is not issued, certified or endorsed by the Competition Appeal Tribunal.

CPOs are designed for organisations responsible for progressing, funding, insuring, acquiring or supervising claims.

These may include litigation funders, claimant law firms, claims management businesses, ATE insurers, portfolio owners, portfolio purchasers and institutional claim owners.

A CPO can be commissioned at any stage of a live matter.

It is particularly useful before a further funding decision, issue, expert instruction, witness preparation, mediation, a settlement discussion, portfolio acquisition, portfolio transfer or another significant commitment of cost or management time.

It may also be useful where a case has slowed and the instructing organisation wants an external view of the claimant participation issues involved.

The precise scope is agreed for each instruction.

A full CPO may consider:

• Engagement and responsiveness
• Understanding of the claim and litigation process
• Evidence and document readiness
• Areas of the claimant’s account requiring clarification
• Practical availability and communication continuity
• Expectations around timing, decisions and possible outcomes
• Support and reasonable-adjustment requirements
• Participation-related risks and recommended actions

The CPO does not make a legal merits determination.

A structured claimant interview may form part of the CPO where it is appropriate, proportionate and agreed with the instructing organisation.

The instruction will specify whether an interview is required, who will arrange it, what the claimant will be told, how consent and privacy information will be handled, whether the instructing organisation will attend and how the interview material may be used.

Some limited CPOs may be completed on a desk-based basis. Where direct claimant input has not been obtained, this will be recorded as a limitation.

Each CPO is assigned to a named Mediatasks assessor operating under the documented Participation Framework.

The proposal or engagement documentation will identify the assessor and provide verified information about their relevant experience.

Where the instruction requires legal analysis, that element must be provided under a separate arrangement by an appropriately authorised legal professional.

A standard CPO is intended to be delivered within five working days after Mediatasks has received the complete agreed information and any required claimant interview has taken place.

Urgent, complex, multi-claimant and portfolio instructions may require a different timetable, which will be agreed before the work begins.

The required material depends on the matter and the stage it has reached.

It may include:

• A case summary
• Key correspondence
• Relevant agreements
• Existing chronologies
• Claimant questionnaires or onboarding records
• Available witness material
• Evidence requests and responses
• Communication history
• Previous assessments or legal opinions
• Details of outstanding claimant actions

Mediatasks will provide a tailored intake checklist after the scope has been agreed.

Confidential case documents should not be sent through the public website form.

The Participation Index is a structured decision-support indicator that may form part of a full CPO.

It draws together relevant findings under the Mediatasks Participation Framework and is reviewed by a human assessor.

It is not a probability of legal success, an automated funding decision, a pass-or-fail decision or a substitute for the reasons set out in the opinion.

The opinion and underlying analysis should always be read as a whole.

No.

The Participation Index does not approve or reject a case. It informs the instructing organisation’s own legal, funding or commercial decision.

The client remains responsible for deciding whether and how the matter proceeds.

The purpose of the CPO is to identify what may be required for effective participation.

A claimant must not receive an adverse participation assessment merely because they are disabled, vulnerable, require interpretation, communicate differently, need additional explanation or require reasonable adjustments.

The CPO should identify appropriate support, communication and adjustment measures where relevant.

The CPO is intended to provide a separately prepared external view.

Its fee does not depend on the conclusion reached, and the report should disclose relevant relationships or conflicts that could reasonably affect how the opinion is perceived.

Mediatasks should use the unqualified word “independent” only where its governance, reviewer separation and conflict-management arrangements support that description.

Yes.

Mediatasks may scope CPO work for individual claimants, selected claimant cohorts, representative portfolio samples or entire portfolios where the methodology and volume permit.

Portfolio instructions may combine individual opinions with aggregated observations, recurring participation themes and recommended operational actions.

The reporting and access arrangements are agreed with the instructing organisation before work begins and must comply with applicable legal, professional and data-protection obligations.

Mediatasks should not promise that a report will never be disclosed, as disclosure rights and litigation obligations may depend on the circumstances.

There should be a defined process for correcting material factual errors.

The CPO should explain:

• The concern identified
• The information on which it is based
• Any relevant limitation
• The practical consequence
• Whether the issue appears capable of remediation
• The recommended action
• Who is best placed to take that action
• The suggested timing

The purpose is not merely to label risk. It is to show what can be done next.

If Mediatasks is retained for qualifying follow-on work on the same matter within 12 months of CPO delivery, 100% of the net CPO professional fee will be credited against Mediatasks’ fees for that work.

The credit:

• Applies to the same matter
• Must be used within 12 months
• Excludes VAT
• Excludes disbursements
• Excludes third-party costs
• Has no cash value
• Is not transferable
• Cannot reduce future Mediatasks fees below zero
• Is subject to the written engagement terms

The CPO does not oblige the client to retain Mediatasks for further work.

The CPO fee is not ordinarily refundable once the agreed work has been performed.

The 100% CPO Fee Credit is a credit toward qualifying future Mediatasks work. It is not a cash refund.

Any cancellation, delay or incomplete-information terms will be set out in the engagement documentation.

CPOs are provided for a fixed fee agreed before the instruction begins.

The fee depends on factors including the volume of material, the stage and complexity of the matter, whether claimant interviews are required, the number of claimants, the required delivery timetable and whether the instruction covers a portfolio or representative sample.

The initial scoping discussion is used to confirm the appropriate scope and fee.

Mediatasks will agree the relevant confidentiality, data-controller or processor roles, transfer method, retention period and access arrangements before receiving case materials.

The public enquiry form should be used only to request a discussion.

Claimant information and confidential documents must be transferred through the approved secure intake process after the instruction has been accepted.

No.

A CPO instruction is an engagement with Mediatasks for the agreed assessment product. It does not by itself create a solicitor-client relationship or authorise Mediatasks to conduct litigation.

Any legal representation or reserved legal work must be separately agreed with an appropriately authorised legal provider.