APIL’s 10-point plan to eliminate fraudulent whiplash claims

Published: 26/10/2012

The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has presented the new transport minister, Stephen Hammond MP, with a 10-point plan to help combat fraudulent whiplash claims from the industry.

Steadfast in its belief that the majority of whiplash claims are made by genuine victims, yet acknowledging there are a select few who try to “cheat the system”, APIL is dedicated in striking the right balance and is therefore proposing the following actions:

  1. Information on fraud to be freely available to all parties to help identify fraudsters
  2. Claimants to be subject to a legally binding statement of truth
  3. Ban insurers from paying compensation without medical evidence
  4. No offers of gifts or cash to potential clients to be made by any party
  5. Enforcement of future ban preventing insurers from selling claimants' details
  6. Identities of potential expert witnesses to be shared by both sides
  7. New guidance to help medics identify and understand whiplash injury
  8. Photo ID to be provided when attending a medical
  9. Claimant solicitor to organise access to relevant medical records
  10. Spam texting to be banned.

Speculation would have it that whiplash claims are rife but, according to Government figures, the number of claims made have actually fallen in the past year.

New, independent research, commissioned by APIL, has found that only one in a hundred people has suffered a whiplash injury in the last 12 months.

Whiplash can be a debilitating injury which can have a long term impact on a sufferer; one in five people who have had a whiplash injury in the past suffered symptoms for more than a year.

Content correct at time of publication

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