Compensation Claim

Car insurance hike due to personal injury claims?

Categories: Insurance Companies,The AA | Tags: | Written by Paul on November 7, 2009

 

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

Categories: Compensation Claim,The AA | Tags: , | Written by Michael on October 23, 2009

 

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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Do we have a compensation culture in the UK?

Categories: Personal Injury | Tags: | Written by Michael on October 9, 2009

 

The personal injuries compensation sector has proven highly controversial in recent years, with some of the British public concerned about the emergence of a compensation culture. The industry has taken steps to respond to this concern, and has also tried to address worries that lawyers are making too much money from claims. There have also been complaints about delays in what can be protracted processes and some degree of public anxiety about the rising cost of insurance.

It is in this troubled context, that insurers and lawyers have been drawing up a new code of practice which seeks to allay public unhappiness with the status quo as regards accident claims and personal injury. This development has been noted by The Claims Connection. The aim of the debate about the code was to reduce the cost of insurance and to prevent consumers being made to suffer lengthy delays. Obviously, how long it takes to deal with a case is dependent on the complexity of the issues involved, but consumers do not appreciate waiting for extremely long periods if there is little communication and no extenuating circumstances.

The effectiveness of the code will only become apparent over time as the sector gets used to working within its framework. Consumers may be sceptical, but the healthy debate about the code indicates that the industry is at least conscious of its difficulties.

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What should I do when I have a car accident?

Categories: Road Traffic Accident (RTA) | Tags: , , | Written by Michael on September 8, 2009

 

Having a car accident can be very traumatic and stressful. You’ve the sudden shock of crashing into someone, or having someone crash into you. You have the shock of seeing your car, which many people take great pride in, being damaged, sometimes destroyed and you have the pain of injury to contend with.

You also have emotions such as anger at the person who caused the accident. This can lead many people to forget what to do when they have a crash, but if you intend to make a claim for compensation you should follow these guidelines whenever you have a crash:

  • Take down the full details of the people involved, including name, address, insurance details, car registration and phone numbers.
  • If they give you a mobile number, test it there and then to see if it rings!
  • Take photographs of the accident from all angles with your phone.
  • Look for witnesses and get their details, even if the accident seems minor and there’s no visible damage to your car or injury to you. Damage could be discovered later and your injuries could come on after the incident.
  • If you are injured in any way, call the ambulance service. You don’t know the extent of your injuries and it will help your compensation claim.

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Car insurance costs more because of Personal Injury claims

Categories: Insurance Companies,Personal Injury,Road Traffic Accident (RTA),The AA | Tags: , , | Written by Hilary on August 7, 2009

 

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

Categories: Norwich Union,Road Traffic Accident (RTA) | Tags: , , | Written by Michael on July 2, 2009

 

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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Car insurance to become more expensive because of injury claims

Categories: Insurance Companies,Personal Injury | Tags: | Written by Paul on May 11, 2009

 

aa-vanThe amount we pay for our car insurance is set to rise this year due to the number of personal injury claims and fraudulent claims made by motorists. In the first quarter of 2009 the average cost of car insurance rose by 1.3% based on a cross section of more than 1,000 car insurance customers using 80 different insurance companies.

The AA’s Simon Douglas stated:

Although 1.3% may not sound much, premiums fell during the (more…)

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