MASS pledge to continue campaign for key changes

This article was published on: 04/23/13

Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS) logo

The Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS) has pledged to continue to campaign for what they see as key changes to the way road traffic accident claims in order to help tackle and eradicate fraudulent claims.

The representative body, also underlined the effect that the ‘have a go’ culture, which many people in this country have adopted, is having on the amount of spurious or exaggerated claims being made and insisted that the government’s wholesale changes to the way claims are handled are not the way forward.

MASS Chairman, Craig Budsworth claimed that the changes to the claims system will only serve to make it harder for genuine claimants, who are in the majority, to make claims and that the minority will continue to commit fraud and other such soft crimes because in the eyes of the current culture, it is totally acceptable to do so.

He said: “The government must recognise that problems within the motor accident claims industry are being replicated across many areas of society. The way to tackle this is not by introducing one-size-fits-all changes that will also prevent legitimate recompense for victims, but a more holistic approach that includes addressing wider social and cultural issues.

“People need to understand that making a fraudulent claim may, if undiscovered, bring short-term financial reward, but ultimately leads to increases in everyone’s insurance premium as the costs are passed on. Until the root cause is tackled, those who wish to ‘have a go’ will at least seek to do so.”

He was also keen to express the importance that everyone pulled together to do their bit in the fight against fraud, including the insurers, saying: “Everyone working in the motor accident claims process needs to play a part in changing the culture. MASS members work hard to spot these cases when they first come to us and we urge insurers to play their part in tackling this problem at its source by continuing their fight against fraud, but also by stopping activities such as pre-medical offers and other incentives that might encourage this behaviour.”

He concluded by stating that the focus needed to shift from fraud detection to fraud prevention and encouraged insurers to tackle application fraud and work towards identifying fraudsters when they try to take policies out in the first place and stop them being insured.

Image source(s)

1. MASS; http://www.mass.org.uk/