In a historic move, the government has made a crackdown on whiplash injury claims leading to average savings of £40 on car insurance bills. The step taken by the Ministry of Justice result in launching a consultation on proposals to trim down the overwhelming number of whiplash claims in the UK.
This will facilitate car insurance providers and help them cut down on the premiums. The icing on the cake is that big insurers have promised to pass on savings to the motorists. Let’s not forget that the savings made by cracking down on whiplash claims would be enormous and the amount would be equal to £1bn. As insurers would save this gigantic amount they intend to pass it on the honest car driver which seems a fair idea.
According to reports, there is an increase of 50% in whiplash claims when compared to what it was a decade ago. This is quite surprising especially in a country like the UK, which is considered to have some of the safest roads in Europe and comparatively lower accident ratio. However, such claims are also encouraged by the motor insurance industry which unintentionally pays for fraudulent claims (view infographic) and thus inflates the cost of insurance premiums for all motorists.
Justice Secretary Elizabeth Truss expressed her views on the action by saying that “For too long some have exploited a rampant compensation culture and seen whiplash claims an easy payday, driving up costs for millions of law-abiding motorists. These reforms will crack down on minor, exaggerated and fraudulent claims. Insurers have promised to put the cash saved back in the pockets of the country’s drivers.”
The consultation paper has guidelines about dealing with whiplash as it suggests discarding the right to recompense or even suggests capping the amount given for trivial whiplash injuries. The capped amount would bring down the pay out from £1,850 to £425. Also, it has made the rule that compensation would be paid only if the claimant produces a medical report that confirms the injury.
Other changes proposed by the Ministry of Justice are:
- To introduce an impartial tariff system for pay-out of injuries
- To not settle any of the claims without any medical evidence! From now onwards all payouts would need report from a MedCo accredited medical expert.
- To raise the limit of personal injury claims from £1,000 to £5,000
The government’s approach to manage the whiplash issue has been appreciated by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and some of the big names in the insurance industry have also pledged to pass 100% savings to the deserving motorists.
Reacting to this, the Economic Secretary Simon Kirby said that “One whiplash claim is paid out every 60 seconds and it is unacceptable that responsible motorists have to pick up the tab. We are tackling the incentives which have created this compensation culture so that all drivers can save money on their motor insurance policies.”
To sum up, motorists should be happy for the government’s stand on whiplash epidemic and measures it has planned to root it out. The best part is that due to this, honest and law abiding motorists would save at least £40 a year on their car insurance. This is certainly a big relief and some news to cherish.
If you want more of such news about any kind of insurance in the UK or want to compare insurance providers, then you can take our help by checking our website https://freepricecompare.com/. You can also get the best advice from our friendly and quick to respond team of insurance experts, which can be contacted on 02034757476.
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