Insurance Companies | Personal Injury Bureau

No compensation payout from the Land of Leather

A high court judge ruled this week that compensation claims by customers of Land of Leather, who claimed they had experienced burns and rashes as a result of buying sofas from the firm, will not receive any payouts.

Customers believe that the sofas purchased from Land of Leather, who are no longer trading as a company, were ‘toxic’ and caused serious injuries to anyone who sat on them. Personal injury claims were made by some 300 customers of Land of Leather, however a high court judge ruled in favour of the former sofa giant.

The sofas in question were manufactured in China and they were also sold by Argos and Walmsley Furnishing. According to reports from the Guardian, over 4,000 people have experienced injury from using them. The problems with the sofas came from a (more…)

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New research by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has revealed that insurers have been forced to pay out more than 650 million pounds over the winter in accident claims due to the extreme winter weather conditions.

According to the BBC website, between 18 December 2009 and 13 January 2010, British insurance companies have paid a multi-million pound sum to UK residents for damage caused to their cars, homes and businesses due to the ice and snow that affected large parts of the country.

The most common form of accident claims that resulted in payment were caused by road traffic accident cases in which vehicles were damaged and personal injuries occurred from crashes on icy roads. This damage bill, which currently stands at around 395 million pounds, continues to rise even after the snowy weather has eased, as an increasing number of (more…)

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Fraudulent whiplash claims

The cost of car insurance has been increasing recently and providers of car insurance are complaining that insurance fraud and whiplash claims are compelling them to make motor cover more costly. It is increasingly important that we distinguish between fraud and legitimate claims.

The Automobile Association (AA) has claimed that it is struggling to make a profit through its insurance arm. For example, Simon Douglas, Director of AA Insurance, told The Times that British drivers were more likely to make whiplash claims than in the past. Mr Douglas stated:

“This is encouraged by personal injury claims lawyers, whose marketing urges people to make claims and whose costs, as well as compensation for the claim, are met by (more…)

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Car insurance hike due to personal injury claims?

The AA has recently blamed the personal injury sector for the massive rise in the cost of car insurance in Britain. According to Reuters news agency, the increase has been the biggest since the AA began its surveys back in 1994. However, fraud has added significantly to the cost of car insurance. Although the AA has maintained that the insurance sector is highly competitive, are the insurance firms involved making personal injury compensation claims the scapegoat for the vast bulk of the rise in insurance costs?

There is undoubtedly a lot to be said in favour of the AA’s case. In 2008, personal injury claims in the UK cost a colossal £9.6 million. This must have had a huge impact on the insurance sector. (more…)

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UK insurance premiums hit 15 year high

According to the AA, insurance premiums in the UK have hit a 15 year high in the third quarter of this year. The blame lies with fraudulent personal injury compensation claims, and genuine injury claims.

The result is that motorists are having to pay more for their car insurance because of personal injury lawyers and compensation claims. The average car insurance quote in the last quarter was £821, a rise of 5.6% on the previous quarter. This is also up by 14% on the same period in 2008.

This increase in insurance premiums is the largest seen by the AA since they started their insurance survey in 1994, 15 years ago. Simon Douglas, the insurance director at the AA, stated:

Despite motor insurance being one of the most competitive markets in the UK, insurers have little choice but to put premiums up.

The AA added that personal injury claims are the reason for the insurance premium rises, as £9.6 billion was paid out in 2008 in the UK for compensation claims. Fraudulent claims totalled $1.9 billion in the same year.

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Car insurance costs more because of Personal Injury claims

According to the AA, personal injury claims are becoming so common that the cost of car insurance is rising to accommodate the compensation culture in the UK. Car insurance prices are actually rising quicker now than they have done for the last ten years.

The AA state that insurance fraud and false claims are also responsible for the increasing costs of insurance policies.

The AA’s Simon Douglas stated:

Underlying premiums are rising more steeply than they have since 2000 because of rising costs.

There’s no getting away from the fact that the industry continues to suffer underwriting losses, which are predicted to be in excess of £240million this year.

As a result of false claims and personal injury claims, some insurance companies have withdrawn the option of third party insurance, and just 50% of insurance companies say they’ll offer insurance for young drivers under 21 years of age.

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Car accidents in Europe can be expensive

According to research from Aviva, who used to be known as Norwich Union, car accidents on the continent are more expensive than they are in the UK. In particular, if you suffer a car accident in Germany or France you’ll have to fork out much more than you would in Britain.

Germany is the most expensive place for an accident, possibly because of the number of high value cars in the country, with each car accident costing around £3,000. That’s 50% more than it will cost anywhere else in Europe.

As many drivers in Europe are aware, the French are among the worst. Personal injury claims cost (more…)

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