A report released by MP’s reveals that insurance claims made for whiplash is one of the reasons that car insurance premiums are rising each year.
The Common Transport Committee reached out to ministers asking them to change the British law to make it tougher for people to make unchallenged claims for whiplash injuries; so it could be good news for car insurance costs as they are once again under scrutiny by the UK Government.
Back at the beginning of 2011, the Transport Committee started investigating the reason for the continually rising costs of insurance; in fact the cost of car insurance has risen 50% in the past two years. The Transport Committee particularly examined the reasons for recent increases in insurance premiums and the impact it is having on younger motorists.
The previous report detailing their findings was published back in March 2011. It highlighted the issues of high insurance premiums. Nevertheless, a new report has now been published in 2012 which reveals that car insurance costs had risen by a further 17% in 2011 because of whiplash claims made through insurance companies.
Louise Ellman from the Common Transport Committee has suggested that people trying to claim should be made to provide come sort of evidence of the whiplash and how the whiplash has adversely impacted their lives. This should be undertaken before the possibility of receiving any compensation. Many GP’s have acknowledged some cases of whiplash can be over diagnosed which only add to the problem.
Louise commented on this new report saying: “Many of these claims are for whiplash, an injury where diagnosis is often subjective and therefore very costly for insurers to challenge and the threshold for receiving compensation in whiplash cases should be raised.”
In Britain, around 600,000 whiplash claims are reported each year. This could theoretically add £90 to a typical car insurance policy. Around £2 billion was paid out last year for whiplash claims; so you can recognize the need for the rise in the insurance premiums. Unfortunately, with so many claims being made every year it is causing drivers who don’t claim to have an enlarged premium as prices continue to increase in the insurance industry.
This report has been an optimistic step in altering the way in which insurance claims can be made by drivers who think they may have suffered from whiplash in a crash.
Nick Starling from the Association of British Insurers responded to the report, “We are pleased that the Transport Select Committee has recognised that spiralling personal injury claims are the real reason car insurance premiums have been increasing and made recommendations for meaningful reform.
“It is absolutely critical that Britain’s whiplash epidemic is tackled once and for all and the Select Committee’s acknowledgment that the bar to receiving compensation for whiplash is too low is a step in the right direction.”
Time will tell if the UK Government decide to take any action against whiplash claims which are resulting in higher vehicle insurance premium costs.
In the meantime Powerseeker’s advice to all drivers; male and female, young and old, is to make sure you shop around with insurance comparison sites when your insurance policy is up for renewal.