Should Car Crash Injury Claims be Overhauled?

Yet more personal injury industry sceptics have emerged this week, with the Association of British Insurers being of the opinion that lawyers make injury claims too expensive

Nick Starling, the ABI's Director of General Insurance & Health, told Sky News that he is concerned that drivers are bearing the brunt of the costs accumulated in injury cases. He says that, since 10% of the value of each claim being absorbed by lawyers, then the system is too expensive.

But his comments have come under attack, with a spokesman for the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers arguing that a review of the compensation system for road traffic accidents is already underway.

"The new scheme has been designed to make this specific type of claim more efficient.

"It will apply to all straightforward road traffic cases up to a value of 10,000, which will actually account for 75 per cent of all Personal Injury cases, according to the Government," he said.

"It will be interesting to see how insurance premiums will be affected in a year's time."

'Injury claimants should not bear the burden of others' negligence'

APIL stressed that their overriding consideration is that drivers injured by negligent motorists should not have to shoulder the burden of others' carelessness.

Some observers think that the unnecessary or trivial claims are clogging up the legal system and driving up costs. Perhaps they are right about the latter point, but the fact is that anyone injured in a car crash that was not their fault is entitled to seek some form of redress for it.

Perhaps the people complaining of 'spurious' claims have never experienced what it feels like to be unable to move for days on end thanks to agonising whiplash-related injuries, which keep the sufferer away from their job as well as unable to perform all but the most simple tasks around the house.

Of course there will be those claims that are literally trivial are fraudulent, but they will be weeded out almost before they've begun. after all, why would a lawyer want to fight a case that he is going to lose. It is not a widespread problem: rather it seems to be a product of the usual broad-brush approach to dismissing the PI industry.

It cannot be doubted that if the amount of time taken to settle injury claims was reduced, then accident victims would receive a better service. Lord Justice Jackson was the man charged with lightening the industry, and there will be many representatives pleased by his suggestions.


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Richard Craig is a representative and supporter of the UK personal injury industry