The House of Commons Transport Committee believes more proof should be required when whiplash related claims are made. The committee found a 70% increase in motor injury claims over the past six years, while there’s been a 23% drop in road fatalities over the same period.
Louise Ellman, chair of the Committee, said whiplash now accounts for as many as 70% of injury claims. Last year alone there were as many as 554,000 whiplash claims.
‘The threshold for receiving compensation in whiplash cases should be raised and the government should bring forward primary legislation to require objective evidence – both of a whiplash injury and of it having a significant effect on the claimant’s life – before compensation is paid,’ she said.
Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, supported the findings of the report and said, ‘We must kill the compensation culture that has sharply driven up car insurance premiums. The recommendations from the committee are a positive step towards doing that.’
The industry came out in strong support of the report’s findings and Nick Starling, director of general insurance at the Association of British Insurers, said, ‘We’re pleased the committee has recognised spiraling personal injury claims are the real reason car insurance premiums have been increasing and made recommendations for meaningful reform.’
The committee also recommended that insurers were prevented from selling their customer’s information and called for a ban on referral fees for this data.
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