Today the insurance industry faces the problem of embellished and phoney whiplash claims and the cost has risen to an annual payout of millions of pounds per year. The problem is in accurately and scientifically measuring pain of individuals making these claims.
Insurance industry statistics show that of the £1.25 billion paid out every year in whiplash claims, a full £125m could be paid to individuals having made fraudulent claims and with no real way to measure the validity of these claims, the insurance industry must continue to pay out.
Based on its opinion that increasing the small claims limit is a serious threat to justice, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers has responded to the Constitutional Affairs Committee report.
The APIL was established in 1990 to protect people's rights who were injured through negligence and aims to ensure that injured people obtain full and fair redress for their injuries. Its membership includes solicitors, barristers, and academics. APIL's campaigning activity has led to regular discussions with the insurance industry, consumer groups, employers' representatives, unions, and the Government.
Sheffield puts the blame for escalating costs of personal injury claims at the feet of the claims management firms that have sprouted up all over the country. They approach people in malls, on the street and even knock on their doors at home trying to drum up business. In some cases, they actually encourage people to lie to make a claim against the government authorities.
Sheffield Today gave the example of the council's chief health and safety officer who broke his arm climbing. He was approached by a claims firm who advised him to lie and say he fell on a piece of broken pavement so that he could claim for compensation from the council. Costs associated with these claims firms have caused council payouts on personal injury claims to skyrocket.
July 12th 2009 was a momentous day for Australian Mark Webber as he rode his Red Bull car to victory in the German Grand Prix.
It was Webber's first Formula One victory and he became only the third Australian to win a Formula One Grand Prix
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