{"id":76181,"date":"2016-11-17T00:15:05","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T00:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=a1ee4e5b80bbe812fb3fc9cbc378115d"},"modified":"2016-11-17T00:15:05","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T00:15:05","slug":"press-release-new-crackdown-on-whiplash-claims-set-to-cut-insurance-premiums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=76181","title":{"rendered":"Press release: New crackdown on whiplash claims set to cut insurance premiums"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>The Ministry of Justice today (17 November 2016) launched a consultation on proposals which will reduce the unacceptably high number of whiplash claims and allow insurers to cut premiums. Insurers have pledged to pass on savings to drivers &#8211; worth a total of \u00a31 billion.<\/p>\n<p>Whiplash claims are 50% higher than a decade ago, despite the UK having some of the safest roads in Europe and a fall in the number of accidents. This has been fuelled by a predatory claims industry that encourages minor, exaggerated and fraudulent claims, driving up the costs of insurance premiums for ordinary motorists.<\/p>\n<p>The consultation paper outlines plans to scrap the right to compensation or put a cap on the amount people can claim for minor whiplash injuries. Capping compensation would see the average pay-out cut from \u00a31,850 to a maximum amount of \u00a3425. Compensation would only be paid out if a medical report was provided as proof of injury.<\/p>\n<p>Other measures include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>introducing a transparent tariff system of compensation payments for claims with more significant injuries<\/li>\n<li>raising the limit for cases in the small claims court for all personal injury claims from \u00a31,000 to \u00a35,000<\/li>\n<li>banning offers to settle claims without medical evidence. All claims would need a report from a MedCo accredited medical expert before any pay out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Justice Secretary Elizabeth Truss said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>For too long some have exploited a rampant compensation culture and seen whiplash claims an easy payday, driving up costs for millions of law-abiding motorists.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">These reforms will crack down on minor, exaggerated and fraudulent claims. Insurers have promised to put the cash saved back in the pockets of the country\u2019s drivers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The government\u2019s commitment to tackle the whiplash epidemic has previously been welcomed by the Association of British Insurers (ABI), with leading insurance firms including Aviva and LV= pledging to pass 100% of savings onto motorists.<\/p>\n<p>Economic Secretary Simon Kirby said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>One whiplash claim is paid out every 60 seconds and it is unacceptable that responsible motorists have to pick up the tab.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">We are tackling the incentives which have created this compensation culture so that all drivers can save money on their motor insurance policies.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3 id=\"notes-to-editors\">Notes to Editors<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Today\u2019s announcement delivers on the government\u2019s pledge to tackle the high number and cost of whiplash claims as made by the former chancellor in his 2015 autumn statement.<\/li>\n<li>The latest ABI premium index, which was published on 31 October 2016, reports that the annual premium paid rose in the third quarter by 9% compared to the same period in 2015. This means that the average premium paid in the third quarter of 2016 is \u00a3440.<\/li>\n<li>These new reforms will build on significant steps already taken by this and the previous government to reduce legal fees and to strengthen medical evidence. All claims would need a medical report provided by a MedCo accredited medical expert before any pay out.<\/li>\n<li>The consultation will run until 6 January 2017.<\/li>\n<li>For more information or interview requests please call the Ministry of Justice Press Office 0203 334 3529<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Millions of motorists could see their car insurance cut by about \u00a340 a year thanks to plans to crackdown on the epidemic of whiplash claims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76181"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=76181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76181\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=76181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=76181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=76181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}