Whiplash Insurance Scandal Increasing Premiums
Return of the whiplash personal injury claim scourge could send insurance premiums soaring by up to 15%, say insurance executives.
Criminals may have found away around new laws that were put in place at the end of last year that were intended to prevent false whiplash claims, which cost insurance companies thousands. Insurance executives believe that claims management firms, solicitors and medical staff have colluded to discover loopholes in the new laws put in place.
Members of the public may receive cold calls on an almost unending basis, some of these cold calls will ask the receiver to fake injuries to doctors if they have had minor road traffic accidents.
Data obtained by the Telegraph suggest that there have been 7,500 more cases of whiplash claims per month when compared to the previous year, though the number of actual RTA's remains almost unchanged.
Insurance giant Esure has advised that all motorists are going to suffer as a result of the surge in claims, with extra costs being passed on to clients to safeguard profits. “The claims environment for the motor market continues to deteriorate and as a consequence we will seek to implement further rate increases in the second half of the year as we look to mitigate against these trends,” said Stuart Vann, chief executive.
Axa has said that "It's as bad, if not worse than before ."
Information suggests that there are in excess of 73,500 small personal injury claims (such as whiplash) submitted every month.
In a poll of more than 24,000 people by researchers Populus and the AA, 11% of respondents said they did not see "anything wrong" with making a claim for personal injury, even if no injury was sustained.
James Savery, 11 August 2015