Customer Service Lines Open Mon-Fri 9am-6pm
Closed Saturday & Sunday & Bank Holidays
The Government have called for accredited doctors and more forceful medical reports to be used.
The Transport Select Committee recently released a report on fraudulent whiplash injuries, with advice on how to stop the rise in insurance premiums that are associated with exaggerated or even fabricated claims.
The report says that the common forms of fraudulent activity include staged crashes that have been set up so that people can make a claim. Claims for non existent passengers, impact of a genuine injury or exaggerated symptoms, or even injuries that have been completely fabricated.
One of the main committee recommendations was that people who are claiming a whiplash injury should be required to submit a valid medical report. The committee stated that they were surprised to hear that this is not the case already and that sometimes insurers will pay claimants when they have not received a genuine medical report.
The committee also said that they support a system in which doctors should verify injuries of claimants to ensure that they are legitimate.
According to the report, the increase in fraudulent whiplash claims has driven up the cost of insurance premiums over the years.
A Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside and the chair of committee, Louise Ellman did emphasise that although there is fraud widespread across the country, there are legitimate whiplash injuries and those that are suffering from them should not be marginalised because of them.
Many Whiplash claims are genuine and can affect people for years sometimes.
The report also highlighted concerns about a government proposal that suggests switching whiplash claims between £1,000 and £5,000 to the small claims court. The commitee believe that it would likely be difficult for the average person to be able to contest a claim against insurance company lawyers. It also noted that expert evidence is usually not submitted in such courts.