Find out why all British car drivers could be £120 a year better off after an announcement this week....
Here’s a riddle for you. The British have the lowest number of road crashes in Europe, but four times more whiplash injury claims than any other country. Why?
Do the British have congenitally weak necks? No. Your average British neck is just as strong as your German, French or Spanish neck.
The blame lies with ambulance-chasing personal injury claims lawyers. Britons don’t suffer from whiplash more than anyone else, we just file more insurance claims for it.
This should enrage every motorist in the country, because you are footing the bill. It is, quite frankly, a pain in the neck.
No, no, no
Car insurance premiums have accelerated more than 50% over the last two years, according to the AA, and ambulance-chasing lawyers are partly to blame.
Claims management companies aggressively advertise for people who have suffered an accident “that wasn’t their fault”, in the hope of encouraging them to make a lucrative claim for compensation.
With the average payout after a road accident now £2,340, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), you can see why people are tempted.
Under “no win, no fee”, they don’t face any legal costs for giving it a go, even if their claim is kicked out. No win, no loss either.
Lawyers earn a fat success fee each time they win. They can even take out insurance against losing the case - and claim the cost from the defendant’s insurance if they win.
No win, no loss for them either.
No wonder the number of motor claims for personal injury have doubled in the last decade.
Culture shock
We can’t blame it all on the lawyers. Astonishingly, insurers are also in on the racket, through something called referral fees.
If you have a bump or scrape on the road, your insurer may pass your details to an ambulance chaser (without your knowledge), who will fork out a fat fee for this valuable piece of information.
You will then be bombarded with unsolicited text messages (as my parents were after a recent road accident) or even phone calls, begging you to claim your cash payout.
Legal costs add an astonishing £2,100 to the cost of each claim and insurers pass on this onto motorists in the form of higher premiums. This costs every single UK motorist about £120 a year.
It’s the compensation culture gone mad.
Mr Whiplash
So honk your horns for Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke, who has just announced that he will change the law to stop the “merry-go-round” of questionable car insurance claims.
Clarke said that personal injury claimants are “passed around like a commodity to the highest bidder”, and the compensation culture is having a corrosive effect on society.
It has also encouraged people to play up any injuries they may have received, which explains why there is so much whiplash in the UK (it makes up an incredible eight out of 10 personal injury claims). Whiplash can’t be detected by scans or x-rays, so doctors can’t prove you don’t have it.
I’ve known people who have suffered genuine whiplash (always use those car seat headrests, folks!) and it’s an awful thing - unless you’re faking it.
No fee, win-win
Banning referral fees will be bad news for lawyers and insurers - motor insurance giant Admiral’s share price fell more than 5% on the news. But it should be great news for motorists, and anybody who loathes the compensation culture. Maybe there is a chance we won’t end up like the Americans after all.
A change in the law that saves you money and clobbers ambulance-chasing lawyers and greedy insurers at the same time? Now that has to be win-win.
Just as long as the new system protects the rights of honest claimants.
Crash and carry
Referral fees aren’t the only dodgy practices putting up your motor insurance costs. Uninsured drivers add around £30 a year to the average insurance policy and insurance fraud another £44.
In June, new laws made it an offence to own an uninsured vehicle. Previously, it was only an offence if you drove it. The industry is also gearing up its efforts to tackle fraud such as “crash for cash”, where criminal gangs stage motor accidents with innocent motorists, then submit group claims for personal injuries. Most of these claims are for, yes, whiplash.
A daytime TV ad that wasn’t your fault
If these initiatives work, motor premiums could go into reverse, or at least slow down (unless insurers bump up premiums to offset their lost referral fees).
Best of all, it might even put a stop to those shouty claims adverts on daytime TV. One day, the dreaded phrase “Have you suffered an accident that wasn’t your fault?” may be an historical footnote.
Let’s hope so.
It will be good to see the lawyers getting it in the neck for a change.
More: Cut the cost of your car insurance | Get £100 cashback for good driving | The multi-car insurance rip-off!