Fraudulent whiplash claims are a well-documented thorn in the side for insurance firms. With road traffic accident claims increasing by over 40% since 2006, Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland said: ‘for too long, the system for making whiplash claims has been open to abuse by individuals looking for an easy payday’.

The increased cost of dealing with high numbers of whiplash claims has been attributed with an increase in car insurance premiums. A car insurance premium is the sum an individual pays to receive insurance coverage. Commenting on the increase of car insurance premiums, Huw Evans, Director General of the Association of British Insurers, noted that ‘soft tissue injury claims have been rising year on year since 2014 as cold calling claims have thrived, driving up the cost of insurance’. The government has stated whiplash reforms can reduce the cost of premiums for individual drivers by approximately £35 per year.

The whiplash reforms alter how insurance claims concerning road traffic accidents are pursued. Since the 31st of May 2021, medical evidence became a mandatory requirement to pursue a whiplash claim. This change is intended to filter out insurance claims made in bad faith. The small claims limit has also risen from £1,000 to £5,000. However, this change is unique to road traffic accidents that do not involve vulnerable road users. This class of individuals includes pedestrians and cyclists, for example. As a result of this change, individuals pursuing whiplash claims worth less than £5,000 are not entitled to recover legal costs.

The Official Injury Claim homepage has also been introduced as a part of the whiplash reforms. This portal allows individuals to make insurance claims for personal injury suffered in a road traffic accident. The injury suffered must not exceed a valuation of £5,000. This portal is intended to streamline the process of making personal injury claims by reducing claimants’ reliance on lawyers. Through the portal, claimants can follow through on their claims individually without requiring paid intervention from external parties.

The new measures implemented in the whiplash reforms appear to have accounted for complaints made by insurance firms. With increased regulation on the claims procedure, room for insincere whiplash claims seems to have declined.

by Brighton Dube

The Whiplash Reforms: A Relief For Insurance Firms