Insurers: Whiplash epidemic must be tackled once and for all
Thursday, 12 January 2012 10:30 AM
Nick Starling, director of general insurance at the Association of British Insurers, comments on the transport committee's report on the cost of motor insurance:
"We are pleased that the transport select committee has recognised that spiralling personal injury claims are the real reason car insurance premiums have been increasing and made recommendations for meaningful reform.
"It is absolutely critical that Britain's whiplash epidemic is tackled once and for all and the select committee's acknowledgment that the bar to receiving compensation for whiplash is too low is a step in the right direction.
"The committee is also right that the fees lawyers receive need to be reviewed as they currently add unnecessary cost.
"Every motorist wants the best deal and insurers are determined to deliver value for money motor insurance.
"Our customers are fed up of getting text messages, fed up of the compensation culture and have had enough of paying higher car insurance premiums to line the pockets of ambulance chasing lawyers and claims management companies.
"We are baffled though that the transport select committee has again called for the transparency of referral fee arrangements of insurers.
"Referral fees should be banned altogether and not made more transparent - and that ban should apply to all organisations receiving them, not just insurers.
"Banning referral fees and, crucially, reducing legal costs will improve the situation for customers."
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