As a bus passenger most days between Lossiemouth and Elgin, the recent unreliability of the Stagecoach service has been a regular topic of conversation.
It has made me wonder how you can give an incentive to provide on-time servicing to a company with a virtual monopoly of the local bus service.
How about we all get the automatic right to claim compensation from Stagecoach for our hassle and inconvenience every time a bus is more than 15 minutes late?
An end to compensation for minor whiplash
In his Autumn Statement for 2015, the Chancellor announced that the Westminster government intends to introduce measures to end the right to compensation for minor whiplash injuries. (We don’t know yet how ‘minor’ is to be defined).
Scotland not included
Our understanding is that these proposed reforms would apply only to England and Wales (and not Scotland or Northern Ireland). However, we’re highlighting these proposals because we consider the principle to be so important.
The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and other similar organisations are campaigning against the changes.
The insurers’ gripe
The motor insurance industry routinely criticises personal injury claimants for exaggeration, and even invention, of symptoms. Motor insurers would love to see the right to claim for some whiplash injuries removed.
It is ironic that, in complaining about misrepresentation of symptoms by road traffic accident victims, motor insurers have themselves been guilty of misrepresentation. Unfortunately, the Westminster government have chosen to side with the insurers.
Interests of injury victims -v- interests of insurance company shareholders
If the right to claim for whiplash injury is removed in certain circumstances, costs to insurers will be reduced. Injured persons’ right to justice will be compromised. Insurance company shareholders will be the ones to benefit. Why should they benefit at the expense of injury victims?
Evidence for motor insurance fraud
The evidence for motor insurance fraud is flimsy and has been exaggerated by the insurance industry.
According to the Association of British insurers, in 2012, 7% of motor claims were fraudulent.
However, on closer analysis, the 7% figure included “suspected” fraud as well as proven fraud. When the ABI separated these 2 elements in their 2014 figures, it became clear that proved fraud was only 0.25% of all motor claims.
Furthermore, personal injury claims are “third-party” claims and the 0.25% figure included insurers’ own policyholders exaggerating claims or making false declarations in insurance proposal forms.
On the face of it, insurers have exaggerated the extent of motor insurance fraud by 28 times (2800%)
It is probably even more than that, however, because personal injury fraud is only a part of the 0.25% figure and fraudulent whiplash claims a further fraction of that.
Unfortunately, the Westminster government yet again wish to stand up for insurers rather than for the rights of injured people.
The imaginary ‘fraud and claims culture’
In the Chancellor’s statement, published in November 2015, the government said that it was determined to crack down on the fraud and claims culture.
Their proposal is to remove the right to compensation for “minor” whiplash injuries on the basis that it will “end the cycle in which responsible motorists pay higher premiums to cover false claims by others”. Of course, as we have seen from the statistics above, this argument has no foundation in reality.
If the government is allowed to legislate away people’s rights to claim compensation for one type of injury, who knows what will be next? What makes it worse is that this Draconian change in the law has absolutely no rational basis on the available evidence.
Inconvenience -v- physical pain
The Moray public transport issues referred to at the start of this article have an echo in some of the Westminster government’s other proposals.
The regime seems to have a strange idea of comparative justice in that, also in the Autumn statement 2015, it was announced that train delays above 15 minutes will soon trigger a right for commuters to claim compensation.
It is a sad day when irritation and inconvenience stand to be valued more highly than actual bodily injury.
A link you might like
If you are looking for other articles on this website which deal with issues relating to whiplash injuries, you will find a list of whiplash-related articles here.
