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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