The government are to tighten the rules surrounding car insurance claims in a bid to cut down the number of whiplash claims that are being made, forcing premiums to rise.
Prime Minister David Cameron, is to host a meeting at 10 Downing Street with representatives from the insurance industry, as well as consumer and business groups in an attempt to develop a strategy to eliminate what he calls ‘trivial claims’.
Insurance companies say that whiplash claims cost the industry £2 billion every year, and raise the cost of the average policy by £90 over the course of a year. In response to this they want to introduce a minimum speed limit at which a claim can be made. If impact occurred below this speed, the claim can be rejected.
A spokesman for number 10 said that the UK had developed a reputation as being ‘the whiplash capital of Europe’, with insurance companies receiving around 1,500 claims a day for the condition, many as a result of even the most minor incidents.
This meeting comes after the Commons Transport Select Committee recommended that the government introduced legislation that required a claimant to produce objective evidence to substantiate their claim – of both the occurrence of the injury, and the detrimental impact that it has had on their life – before any compensation can be received.
MPs have said that the number of casualties in RTAs had in fact dropped by 23% in the last 6 years. Despite this, motor insurance injury claims had risen by a staggering 70%, with whiplash claims making up 70% of the total number of injury claims being submitted. David Cameron is said to be determined to tackle the UK’s compensation culture that has seen insurance premiums sky rocket.
Insurance companies want to see measures rolled out similar to the system used in companies like Germany, where a whiplash claim cannot be made if a collision takes place below 6.25 mph. As well as this, claimants must also obtain two separate medical opinions diagnosing the injury.
The planned meeting between officials of 10 Downing Street is to be attended by representatives of top insurance firms such as Royal Bank of Scotland, Admiral , Axa, Aviva, and Zurich Financial Services.