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 character of affected cases is on the increase according to Admiral Insurance.
Claims for whiplash cost the insurance industry up to ฃ1. 6 billion a go, 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, basically victims are likely to suffer pain and discomfort due to damage to the muscles and ligaments. This may not steady occurrence up on an Embrace - dtreak which makes fraudulent claims for whiplash hard to recognize.
Staging a car accident is the new way criminals are irritating to exploit the insurance system. This practice involves people deliberately stage up a road smash in system for them to make a claim for injury and damage to their vehicle. Witness statements will often be sought, but these onlookers are likely to be in on the scam according to industry experts.
Admiral Insurance has recently been involved in approximative 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 stuff which resulted in his injuries. Sequentially the driver of the other car, an Admiral customer, oral although he did hit the car in front, he was travelling at only 2 to 3 miles per hour and caused a teensy 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 so went to court where the evaluator dismissed the claimants’ apologue 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 apostle for Admiral oral, “We are obviously fascinated about people faking whiplash, as the more money we pay out for assumed claims, the more money real people have to pay for their insurance. Whiplash is selfsame a tough entity to prove that someone hasn’t had. ”
Barclays Insurance Services carried out research thing the causes of whiplash and plant that although well-qualified are many cases of actual injury, a majority of drivers and passengers in cars don’t help themselves by not adjusting their headrests to help them objective 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 expansion of a new succour to help insurers’ spot people who had suffered potentially serious neck injuries more quickly to enable them to procure the best medical care as away as possible.
ABI spoken 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 advocate for ABI oral, “Insurers are brick wall to do all they can to expose these cheats so that more juncture can be accustomed to treating authentic whiplash claimants. ”
