80% Of Road Traffic Personal Injury Claims Are For Whiplash

The UK has earned the unfavourable title of being the whiplash capital of the world and recent figures released by the Faculty of Actuaries seems to back up this claim. Whiplash claims now total £2bn a year and reports indicate that anywhere between 50% and 90% of claims are fraudulent. The figures have catapulted Britain to the front of the queue as the most litigious country in the world, ahead of the US which is typically considered to be the worst offender in such cases.

Whiplash is a serious injury and it can have a negative impact on a person’s life for many years following an accident but it is also difficult to categorically prove or deny. Generally, it is down to medical experts to determine whether the injury is real or not and this allows for huge margins of errors, arguably confounded by the fact that many GPs are wary of making potentially costly and damaging mistakes.

Following an announcement by major insurers that fraudulent whiplash claims were adding more than £100 a year onto insurance premiums, the government launched a campaign to determine how best to reduce the number of whiplash claims. Their aim was to reduce car insurance premiums although no sign of reductions has yet been spotted. Over time, a reduction in premiums may be seen but with the changes only coming into force from 1st April the results and effects will take time to filter through.

Figures released by the Faculty of Actuaries shows that whiplash claims make up a huge proportion of personal injury claims that arise from road traffic accidents. In fact, 80% of all road traffic accident claims are whiplash related and this accounts for a total bill of £2bn, putting Britain firmly at the fore of whiplash claims throughout the world. While the US is often considered to be the most litigious country, these recent findings place the UK above the US in terms of claims.

Figures do vary but using a conservative estimate of 50% of whiplash claims as being fraudulent this means that £1bn of compensation is being paid out to people that have not really suffered the injury, or have not suffered to the extent that they claim. Other figures suggest that the figure could be as high as £1.8bn with 90% of claims being fraudulent or exaggerated. With that said, those that suffer injury or loss as a result of an accident that is not their fault do have a right to compensation and therefore have a right to make a personal injury claim.

The Association of British Insurers launched a campaign that suggested people involved in road traffic accidents be checked by healthcare professionals in order to support their claim of whiplash. The ABI wanted to force claimants to undergo these checks before being able to make a claim for their injury. Those that believe they have suffered a whiplash or other injury as a result of a car crash should ensure that they receive medical treatment as soon as possible, at least to prevent the injury from worsening.

General PI News Road Traffic Accidents WhiplashJul 20th, 20130 comments