The insurance industry has come under fire from the Committee, which is now calling for significant changes to reduce the number of whiplash claims, which reached a high of 790,999 in 2010-2011. Currently, one whiplash claim is made every minute of every day, Nick Starling of the Association of British Insurers told the Today programme.
Referral Fees
Presently, there is a thriving trade in the exchange of information between insurers, car hire companies, solicitors and other interested bodies, with referral fees for information reaching approximately £600. The high legal costs (£1200 for such cases) mean that such bodies receive a healthy profit margin in paying a referral fee to secure conduct of a case. The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, which is currently being processed, seeks to place a ban on referral fees on personal injury cases.
Evidential Proof
Speaking to the Today programme, Jack Straw highlighted that the bogus nature of many whiplash claims is clear, the only alternative explanation being that statistically English citizens have very weak necks compared to those of our neighbours in Scotland. The difficulty for insurers in defending such claims is that whiplash is subjective, and thus notoriously hard to disprove when faced with a supporting medical report. The claims therefore claims often go unchallenged by the insurer.
The level of medical evidence currently required in whiplash cases is relatively very low: insurers routinely accept one medical report as sufficient evidence of a whiplash injury, whereas in other scenarios such as disability benefits, evidence is needed from an independently appointed practitioner.
If legal reforms do not produce a marked decline in the number of whiplash claims, the Committee has recommended that primary legislation be implemented in order to require objective evidence prior in order for a claim being settled.
Read the full report at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmtran/1451/145102.htm
- Naomi Owen