Insurance Companies Fight Back Against Fraudulent Whiplash Claims

Insurance Companies Fight Back Against Fraudulent Whiplash Claims

Whiplash injuries account for 80 per cent of all car accident claims in the UK, but the number of false cases is on the increase according to Admiral Insurance.
Claims for whiplash cost the insurance industry up to ฃ1. 6 billion a span, with 250, 000 people saying to have been affected by it annually; 2, 000 of these are left with lifelong disabilities.
There is no evidence of an injury immediately in most cases, after all victims are likely to suffer pain and discomfort due to damage to the muscles and ligaments. This may not uninterrupted spectacle up on an Mush - flash which makes fraudulent claims for whiplash insoluble to spot.
Staging a car accident is the new way criminals are operose to exploit the insurance system. This practice involves people deliberately latitude up a road smash in line for them to make a claim for injury and damage to their vehicle. Witness statements will usually be sought, but these onlookers are likely to be in on the scam according to industry experts.
Admiral Insurance has recently been involved in allied a court case with a driver claiming to have suffered whiplash after his car was hit from behind by another vehicle.
The motorists seeking damages claimed to have been struck by a car at 35 to 40 miles per hour, shunting him forward with severe violence which resulted in his injuries. In conclusion the driver of the other car, an Admiral customer, spoken although he did hit the car in front, he was travelling at only 2 to 3 miles per hour and caused a small-scale amount of damage to the bumper area.
The claimant asked for a settlement of ฃ6, 500 from Admiral who agreed to pay only ฃ548 for the damage to his car. The matter thereupon went to court where the assessor dismissed the claimants’ fantasy of events and instead of awarding him a payout of several thousand pounds, ordered his side to pay the legal costs bill of up to ฃ40, 000.
A attorney for Admiral verbal, “We are obviously biased about people faking whiplash, as the more money we pay out for reproduction claims, the more money real people have to pay for their insurance. Whiplash is akin a laborious instrument to prove that someone hasn’t had. ”
Barclays Insurance Services carried out research regard the causes of whiplash and launch that although able are many cases of authentic injury, a majority of drivers and passengers in cars don’t help themselves by not adaption their headrests to help them mark any impact suffered.
This claim was backed up by figures released by the motor industry’s research centre, Thatcham, who indicate that 72 per cent of front seat occupants fail to do this.
The Association of British Insurers ( ABI ) announced the maturing of a new succour to help insurers’ spot people who had suffered potentially serious neck injuries more quickly to enable them to gather the best medical care as these days as possible.
ABI uttered that although the majority of people recover from whiplash injuries relatively quickly, some cases can lead to ‘significant long term problems’ like disabling pain and depression.
Malcolm Tarling, a counsel for ABI vocal, “Insurers are solid to do all they can to expose these cheats so that more month can be inured to treating genuine whiplash claimants. ”