Whiplash claimants should face medical examination, say insurers
INSURERS have stepped up their efforts to curb a whiplash claims culture in the UK.
As reported in Drive last week, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) reckons a fifth of all car insurance premiums go towards paying for whiplash claims.
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Now the ABI says anyone claiming whiplash injury should be required to undergo examination by an accredited medical expert who has financial independence from the claimant's solicitors.
The ABI says 1,500 people claim whiplash injury each day, inflating the average motor insurance premium by £90 a year.
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The ABi is also proposing the small claims track threshold would rise from £1,000 to £5,000, and that any claimant whose whiplash claim is in part exaggerated or made up should automatically have their entire claim dismissed.
James Dalton, the ABI's assistant director of motor and liability, said: "We believe our proposals offer the best cure for the UK's whiplash epidemic.
"Insurers want to make it simpler and quicker for genuine whiplash claimants to get fair compensation. But whiplash is notoriously difficult to diagnose, which means that for too many people it has become the fraud of choice."
Comments
by janner002
Wednesday, March 20 2013, 4:48PM
“I made a claim for whiplash, I had a medical & was found to be 100% truthful, I was in agony for weeks & had to use an osteopath, who failed to help, then a chiropractor who did help.
For £2000 I would have much preferred to be left out of the other persons accident, but I had no choice, so I think the insurance companies get off pretty damned lightly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”