
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) have lashed out at claims by the Transport Select Committee (TSC) that a complete ban should be introduced to pre-medical offers on personal injury claims moving forward.
James Dalton, head of motor insurance with the ABI, insisted that such a change would force up the price of insurers’ costs and therefore have a knock-on effect on insurance premiums, in what seems a hypocritical attempt to dissuade the government from following the recommendation.
Throughout the summer the insurance industry has campaigned tirelessly to see change brought in that will stamp out fraudulent activity from the profession, but hypocritically it seems that if this has an effect on how they make profit then it is not welcome.
Mr Dalton said: “Removing an insurer’s ability to settle a claim without a medical report will only serve to increase insurers’ claim coasts and consequently premiums.”
He also went on to say that medical reports for minor injury claims produced years after a car accident had ‘no value whatsoever.’
It seems the ABI are only interested in reforms that tackle fraud within the industry, if they restrict the claimant, which is further backed up by Mr Dalton’s call for the government to press ahead with creating a nationwide panel of independent medical experts for whiplash cases.
He also revived the campaign to see the small claims limit increased to £5,000 and again asked the government to consider doing away with damages altogether for those who have suffered whiplash injury.
Of course, this would be a disaster and it is hoped that the Government won’t be fooled by the insurance industry’s ignorance, into thinking whiplash is not a ‘real’ injury, which can cause a level of distress and disruption to a victim’s life.
Image source
1. ABI; https://www.abi.org.uk/