Crackdown on bogus accident claims

Posted on Friday 1 January 2010

A new package of measures to tackle insurance fraudsters and dishonest claims has been announced by the government which should reduce the amount being paid out unnecessarily by insurance companies on fraudulent claims and enable them to pass on savings to honest customers. These will affect bogus claims, both motor claims and others such as ‘trips and slips’ at work and in public places.

The measures include:

Requiring courts to throw out compensation applications in full where the claimant has been fundamentally dishonest – to stop people who have had an accident from exploiting the system by making bogus claims or grossly exaggerating the extent of their injuries
Plans to ban lawyers from encouraging people to make claims by offering them incentives like cash or iPads
Reducing questionable whiplash claims by improving medical assessments, ensuring they are only conducted by independent accredited professionals, and setting fixed fees for medical reports this year
Introducing new rules this year to restrict the practice of settling whiplash claims without confirmation of the claimant’s injury

The new measures are the latest stage of the government’s delivery on the commitment to deal with high insurance costs made by the Prime Minister at an insurance summit in 2012. The latest Association of British Insurers average motor insurance premium tracker shows the average price of fully comprehensive insurance cover has reduced by 14% over the last year.

Association of British Insurers Director General Otto Thoresen said: “These changes are a very positive development for the vast majority of honest insurance customers who end up paying for the fraud of the minority. We applaud the decision to ban the distasteful advertising which offers cash or other inducements for personal injury claims. This only serves to reinforce to unscrupulous claimants that there is a compensation culture to exploit.”