Whiplash claims inflated – APIL

The government has been misled by inflated fraud statistics issued by insurers, according to the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL).

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) estimates that whiplash injuries amount to £2bn a year, with the UK described as the whiplash capital of Europe. Up to 80% of motor injury claims in the UK are said to be for whiplash and the government is expected to clamp down on whiplash compensation with new legislations.

However, APIL says that analysis of 2014 figures from the ABI shows that only 0.25% of claims were proven to be fraudulent. It adds that of that quarter per cent, only a fraction are for whiplash-related injuries.

President of APIL, Jonathan Wheeler, said, ‘We have discovered motor insurance fraud is actually a fraction of the level so often touted by the insurance industry. The fact that there is far less of it than we have all been led to believe, and that it is still being used to justify government proposals to abolish the right to compensation for some whiplash injuries, is an absolute scandal.

‘The government is obviously aiming at the wrong target. It is perfectly clear to anyone who looks at the real picture that the government’s proposal is both draconian and has no basis in evidence.’

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