ABI calls for clampdown on Britain's pain in the neck culture

The ABI today called for a clampdown on the UK’s pain in the neck culture that has made the UK the whiplash capital of Europe. One in every 140 people claim whiplash a year. The activities of ambulance chasing lawyers and claims management firms, coupled with ‘crash for cash’ staged motor accidents has increased the risk of fraudulent claims.

Whiplash occurs after the soft tissue in the spine has been stretched and strained following a sudden forceful movement. It is normally caused by rear-end motor collisions. The need for action is highlighted by the fact that:

• Nearly 1200 whiplash claims are made every day. This is six times more than the number of people who claim for workplace-related injury every year.
• The costs to the NHS of treating whiplash have been estimated at £8 million a year.
• Three-quarters of personal injury claims in the UK are for whiplash, more than elsewhere in the Europe.
• Insurers pay out nearly £2 billion a year in claims for whiplash.

Speaking at the 2011 Whiplash conference in Leeds today James Dalton, the ABI’s Assistant Director of Motor and Liability, said: "Despite the statistics I doubt that that the UK has some of the weakest necks in Europe.”

The ABI is calling for action around:

• Implementation of Government proposals for civil justice reform to ensure genuine claimants get fair compensation and access to rehabilitation more quickly, and to reduce the scope for fraudulent claims.
• Intensifying insurers’ crackdown on fraudulent whiplash claims, for example cracking down on organised ‘crash for cash’ staged motor accidents.
• Raising consumer awareness on the need to keep a safe braking distance from the vehicle in front. So-called ‘tailgating’ is the main cause of whiplash.
• Developing authoritative medical guidance on how to accurately diagnose and treat genuine whiplash.

James Dalton added: “We seem ill-equipped to effectively identify and treat whiplash; our compensation system is too slow in paying fair compensation and offering rehabilitation to genuine claimants, and our compensation culture encourages fraud. All this must change. Our action plan will set up what is missing: an effective partnership between doctors, insurers and lawyers to ensure better prevention and treatment of whiplash, and crackdown on fraudulent claims. This will reduce the unacceptable costs which whiplash currently imposes on individuals, businesses and the state.”

For the full article visit the ABI website by clicking here...

source: ABI

Transport Select Committee report on motor insurance misses the point says the ABI

Responding to the publication today (11 March) of the House of Commons Transport Committee report into the cost of motor insurance, Nick Starling, Director of General Insurance and Heath at the ABI, said:

“This report is a missed opportunity. The Committee took a great deal of evidence, and has chosen to ignore much of it.

The Committee has failed to recognise that the main cause of the recent increases in motor insurance premiums is ever- increasing personal injury claims and spiralling legal costs. These are often driven by claims management firms. The Committee should have called on the Government to implement in full the recommendations of Lord Justice Jackson’s report into tackling the compensation culture. This will not only control excessive legal costs, but will speed up the payment of compensation to genuine claimants. Until this happens the cost of motor insurance will continue to rise."

“Legal costs alone now add an extra £40 a year to the average motor premium, and motorists should not have to foot the bill for our cost-ridden compensation system.

“The Committee is also wrong to say that referral fees should be more transparent. They are a symptom of a dysfunctional compensation system, not the cause of it. This is why the industry wants to go further than the Committee recommends and ban them altogether.”

On the Committee’s comments on tackling insurance fraud and young driver road casualties, Nick Starling commented:

“Insurers are also working hard to combat insurance fraud, including funding the Insurance Fraud Bureau, which works closely with the police in investigating organised motor insurance frauds.

“What the Committee has got right is to call for more action to reduce the appalling number of accident casualties among young drivers. The Government must act now to fix our failing driver training regime, through measures such as introducing a minimum learning period.”

For the full article on the Association of British Insurers website click here...

source: ABI

ABI says cold weather sees UK insurance claims double to £1.4bn

The freezing weather in December resulted in £1.4bn of insurance claims on property and vehicles in the UK, figures have shown.

This is more than twice the £650m claimed due to the cold snap the previous year, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said. The snap was more severe, longer and affected more of the country.

Burst pipes caused the most problems, with more than 100,000 claims totalling £680m, the ABI said. More than 250,000 vehicles were damaged as a result of the snow and ice on the roads, leading to £530m of claims.

Figures released last month showed that the cold weather was largely responsible for the contraction in the UK economy during the final three months of last year. The economy shrank by 0.5%, but activity would have been "flattish" without the impact of the bad weather, the Office for National Statistics said.

source: BBC

Winter weather insurance claims hit £650m

Insurers paid out £650m from 335,000 claims made as a result of damage caused by the wintry weather in the UK, figures show.

The biggest chunk of the payout was to motorists who damaged vehicles on the slippery roads, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said. January was the eighth coldest on record and the UK's worst since 1987.

The bad weather hit businesses and consumers with sectors including retail and the housing market suffering. The ABI said that the winter weather cost insurers £650m for claims made in the UK from 18 December to 13 January.

Specifically, £395m has been paid out to motorists. Many of the 268,400 motor insurance claims were for accidental damage caused to vehicles.

For the full story from the BBC click here...

source: BBC