Whiplash is a Big Pain in the Neck for Us All

By Steve Hughes

ALMOST half a million motorists a year are climbing aboard the bogus whiplash bandwagon, which is raising the cost of insurance premiums for law-abiding motorists by an average of pounds 65 a year.

Latest figures from the Association of British Insurers reveal that an average of 1,200 people claim for alleged whiplash injuries every day in the UK.

Last year the figure was 430,000 and this is expected to break through the half-million mark this year, amounting to an incredible pounds 2bn in compensation payouts to people claiming to be victims.

Lawyers cashing in on the compensation culture are urging anyone involved in an accident - no matter how minor - to contact them before they contact their insurance company. They then persuade all the occupants of the vehicle to claim for whiplash injuries, which because they are undetectable cannot be defended by the insurance companies that are forced to make automatic payouts in every case.

This can be a standard payout of pounds 8,000 per person, amounting to pounds 40,000 for a car carrying five people.

Police say that many of the low-speed accidents are deliberately staged by the two parties involved but unless there are independent witnesses they are powerless to act.

The AA says that the scam is so lucrative that the number of people claiming to have suffered whiplash in minor shunts has soared by 25% in the last five years.

AA Insurance director Simon Douglas says: "The cost of whiplash claims equates to about pounds 66 for every UK car insurance policy, or about 14 per cent of the average car insurance premium. This is more than twice the cost of claims for accidents with uninsured drivers.

"Over the past year the average premium for a comprehensive car insurance policy increased by 8.7% and whiplash injury will become an increasingly important factor in future premium increases."

The main beneficiaries of the wholesale whiplash compensation scam are the motorists claiming to have suffered the injuries and also the lawyers representing them, who make millions every year in costs for handling the cases even though they are undefended and are a formality.

The AA says that the relatively small number of genuine cases involving legitimate victims of whiplash are easily avoidable.

AA president Edmund King says: "Drivers and passengers can help prevent themselves becoming victims of whiplash by adjusting head restraints before they drive off."

(c) 2008 The Journal - Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

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