Whiplash
Blog: Whiplash, discount rate, Vnuk and driverless cars on the road ahead
The Association of British Insurers’ announcement that motor insurance premiums hit their highest recorded levels at the end of last year is another reminder that change is long overdue in the personal motor market. That’s coming but will it be enough?
Blog: Injured claimants are not lobby fodder
I spent 15 years working for a number of insurance companies before ‘crossing the floor’ to be the managing director of Minster Law, a claimant firm. Whether moving from insurance to the law is a step up the public approval rankings or a step down is a…
Editor's comment: Feeling lucky?
My Irish grandmother always said bad things come in threes. In the last 18 months the insurance industry has faced bad returns on investments, several increases to insurance premium tax and now the huge change to the Ogden discount rate, so the sector…
Blog: The future of CMCs
Listening to the entirety of the Second Reading debate on the Prisons and Courts Bill last week, I was reminded once again of the pitfalls of short-sighted and ill-thought-out policy changes in the claims sector.
Trade voice: Navigating the new legal landscape
The legal landscape around the insurance industry and the claims sector is approaching a period of unprecedented change.
Payouts for employers’ and public liability claims 'significantly' climb
Insurance payouts for small employers’ and public liability personal injury claims have increased significantly over the past two years, climbing to an average value of nearly £4,000 by the end of last year.
This week in Post: highs, lows and running with the wolves
It has been a week of highs and lows in our household. My son went on his first Cub sleepover and earned the honour of becoming a Sixer. I, meanwhile, returned to the X-ray machine.
Scotland could face a claims epidemic following whiplash changes
Whiplash reforms and a new tariff system could give rise to a claims epidemic in Scotland, DWF has warned.
Blog: Whiplash reforms were supposed to be about fraud
There is something rather strange happening in the debate around the whiplash reforms. For all the sound and fury across the entrenched battle lines with which we are all familiar, there does appear to be a consensus forming across the divide.
MPs investigate whiplash claims
The Justice Committee is launching a short inquiry into whiplash claims and on government plans to raise the small claims limit for personal injury.
ABI blasts 'fake news' report on falling whiplash claims
The Association of British Insurers has branded a Capital Economics report into the falling rate of soft tissue injury claims as “fake news”.
30 claims handler jobs at risk at Direct Line
Direct Line Group has placed 30 claims handler jobs under review.
ABI's James Dalton on sorting out the discount rate mess
I am living the discount rate at the moment. I have lost count of the number of meetings I have attended, legal opinions I have read and conversations with insurance company CEOs I have had on this complex issue.
Blog: Insurers could regret whiplash reforms
In the end, the whiplash reform moved remarkably quickly. After 12 months of deliberating, we only had six weeks of consultation, followed by seven weeks of considering what to do. The tangible result was the compiling of seven hurriedly drafted clauses…
Lack of data access holding back fight against fraud
Changes to Irish claims laws are cutting down on fraud and the rising levels of awards but the lack of insurer access to driver data is holding the industry back, a top judge has said.
Blog: Vnuk opens fraud front
The Vnuk ruling has raised the prospect of a much wider compulsory insurance regime being introduced in the UK, requiring vehicles such as golf buggies, quad bikes and farm vehicles to be insured, even when used exclusively on private land. The…
Insurers must fight fraud in the courtroom: Justice Kearns
Insurers must fight back against exaggerated and fraudulent personal injury claims in court, the chairman of Ireland’s Personal Injury Commission has said.
Irish PI compensation changes a 'major step forward for the market'
Guideline changes to personal injury lawsuit compensation in the Republic of Ireland is a “major step forward for the market,” one of the country’s top lawyers has said.
This week: Personal injury, fundamental flaws and results
Personal injury took on a new meaning for me this week when I discovered a bruised ankle picked up during a recent paragliding adventure was actually a bad break.
PI firms will have 'no other choice but to close' following whiplash reform
More jobs could be lost as a result of the government's whiplash reforms than were lost in the South Wales steel industry last year, Access to Justice told Post.
Axa CEO: Discount rate cut could wipe out benefit from whiplash reform
The reduction of the discount rate may wipe out any reduction in premiums that consumers might see from whiplash reforms, the CEO of Axa has warned.
Government to raise small claims track limit for whiplash to £5000
The Ministry of Justice has confirmed there are to be fixed tariffs capping whiplash compensation payouts.
Legal Update: Motor's waiting game
The motor claims market is currently sitting in that state of indecision that business - and pilots - like to call ‘a holding pattern' as it awaits three major government consultations. These, to push the aviation analogy to its fullest, are hovering…