Poll: Should car crash victims receive care over cash for whiplash?
Car crash victims with minor whiplash injuries should receive medical care rather than cash in order to help combat fraud and bring down the cost of premiums generally, a major insurer has urged.
Aviva estimates the move would wipe around £32 off the typical motor insurance premium and said it would also act as a strong deterrent to "crash for cash" scams, which are based around fraudsters making money by staging a motor accident in order to make false whiplash claims.
Whiplash costs could be almost halved if short-term, minor injuries are not dealt with by cash payments, shaving an estimated £900 million from the current annual £2 billion cost of claims in the UK, the insurer said.
Instead of the typical £2,500 payout that someone gets for a minor whiplash injury claim, they should be offered an assessment of their injuries and treatment to help them recover, it suggests.
More than 475,000 whiplash claims were made in 2013, according to figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
Aviva said analysis of its own claims data shows that 94% of all personal injury claims from a motor accident are for minor whiplash-type injury claims.
It said that in France, for example, it is estimated that whiplash accounts for just 3% of personal injury claims.
What do you think? Should car crash victims receive care over cash for whiplash? Vote now in our poll and join the debates in the comments section beneath the article.
