It has been reported that 430,000 people made a claim for whiplash in 2007 accounting for 75% of the UK’s motor insurance claims. What does this mean for insurance premiums?
Depending on which resource you use, the figures vary, but still tell a shocking tale.
Most articles will document the fraud levels such as the telegraph which reported in 2011 that £44 was being added to every premium due to the 30,000 staged crashes the year before, costing insurers £350million.
Some insurers are taking the initiative by targeting solicitors who they believe are knowingly involved in fraudulent whiplash claims. The Law Society Gazette reported in late 2010 that the Association of British Insurers (ABI) is convinced that solicitors are helping fraudsters going on to give figures that every year there is 1 whiplash claim for every 140 people in the UK.
Considering that legal costs paid to a solicitor running a whiplash injury claim can often equal and sometimes surpass the actual compensation paid to the injured person … this might not be a bad place to start a crack down. Though halting the onslaught of referral-fee-winning claims service providers is probably a better target.
Another way to stop whiplash at the source is to do more to protect passengers in the vehicles that get in to accidents. Many manufacturers have taken this very seriously though probably for their own reputations as safe cars rather than any mandate against rising British insurance costs.
Mercedes-Benz have their Active Head Restraint (AHR). Saab (who were responsible for the first active head restraint) as well as Opel, Ford, Nissan, Subaru, Hyundai and Peugeot have been using the SAHR Active Head restraint system. Volvo and Jaguar have a Whiplash Protection/Prevention System (WHIPS). Toyota have called theirs Whiplash Injury Lessening (WIL) systems.
The next move, therefore, is probably for insurers to use the safety records and data to impeach the claims of the people trying to get whiplash compensation for an accident in a car that should have prevented such an injury! It’s a shame, therefore, that the data seems unreliable with some independent studies saying they reduce neck injuries by 75% whilst others say they have no effect at all …
