I’m sure we all know people who have made claims for whiplash injuries following motor accidents when their car has been hit from behind.
I was once hit from behind gently. My Honda suffered no damage, nor did I, but I was “surprised” by my passenger’s whiplash injury!
The whiplash injury has become the shame of the insurance world with a few headline-grabbing cases whereby people have been involved in an unfeasibly high number of rear end collisions – always with themselves as the victims. Some of the crazier cases have made all the newspapers and little wonder.
But at last, it seems the government has decided to take action to actually do something about it – and about time too. Fraudulent insurance claims aren’t only immoral – they push up the costs of insurance for the vast majority of ordinary people who play by the rules – and they limit the pay-outs for those people whose claims due to physical injury and incapacity are perfectly genuine.
This, in turn, has a negative impact on the whole industry. The costs of motoring in general are far higher than they need to be – which has a deleterious knock-on effect in all sorts of ways. For example, people who may otherwise choose eco cars for the sake of the environment, or classic cars for the sheer love of driving – are deterred from doing so because the insurance cost just pushes things out of financial reach.
But now the report by the House of Commons Transport Committee says high insurance costs are partly the result of bogus whiplash claims and it says some insurers even sell motorists’ details to lawyers – who then encourage claims. Apparently, there was a 70% increase in the quantity of such claims over the past six years alone!
The Transport Committee recommends that the government changes the law in a way that people must then prove an injury, and prove that it’s having a major negative impact on their life.