Access to Justice (A2J), the personal injury lawyer lobby group, has called on the Government to rethink its plans for soft tissue injury claim reform following the publication of a report which casts serious doubt on the main argument for the changes.
The report, commissioned by A2J and produced by Capital Economics, has countered the insurance industry’s argument that whiplash claims are directly responsible for rises in motor insurance and that claims have risen despite a drop in accident frequency.
Using data from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), the report concludes that the total amount paid out by insurers for whiplash claims fell by 17% between 2007 and 2016. During the same period, there has been a 72% increase in the cost of car insurance.
A2J has said that the report also debunks a common perception that while road traffic accidents have fallen, the number of injury claims has risen. Capital Economics found that the fall in motor accidents recorded by the police reflects the reduced likelihood of an incident being reported, rather than a reduction in total accidents. A key contributing factor in the drop in reported accidents is the decline in the number of police traffic officers – by nearly 37% between 2003 and 2014.
Mark Pragnell of Capital Economics,