The Rising Cost of Car Insurance Thanks to Whiplash Claims
The cost of car insurance continues to rise with no end in sight. It's hard to pinpoint an exact cause but one of the largest contributing factors is the rising number of claims for whiplash suffered in road accidents. In 2011 these claims accounted for 70% of all the claims made for road accidents with 554,000 in total.
It is accepted that whiplash injuries are a genuine concern and can cause serious problems for those who suffer from them, but it is being recommended that compensation should only be paid if plenty of evidence of the injury is provided. It is feared that it has become too easy to successfully claim for a whiplash injury and people are taking advantage of that. It is currently required that proof be presented in the form of medical reports but the bar needs to be raised for the quality and quantity of these proof to ensure that only those who are deserving of compensation receive it.
The rise in insurance premiums comes even after a 10% decrease in road accidents. The main problem is fraud. The no win no fee offerings of many personal injury companies are too good for many potential fraudsters to turn down, making it easy for people to try and take advantage of the system. In 2010 133,000 fraudulent insurance claims were detected costing almost A�1bn. Whiplash is the go to condition for people wanting to scam the system because it is basically impossible for a doctor to either diagnose or disprove the condition.
The insurance companies also have a big hand in the number of these claims. It is common practice for them to share details of accidents with personal injury companies for a referral fee, who then pressure people to make claims. These companies are also accused of encouraging people to claim for hire cars and other sometimes unnecessary costs.
Fraud is of course is not the only factor in the rising cost of car insurance. New legislation recently came in that prohibits gender discrimination in the price of insurance. As a general rule it was always cheaper for a female to insure a car as statistically they were less likely to have an accident. This is no longer seen as fair as each person should be treated individually regardless of gender. Due to this legislation change prices for females have risen significantly rather than bringing them down for males.
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