WHIPLASH CLAIMS

Car insurers were under fire this week as they “encourage fraud and exaggeration” say MPs. 

MPs on the Transport Select Committee said insurers must immediately “put their house in order”.  MPs on the committee said insurance companies were guilty of accepting claims that had not received proper scrutiny and also accused the insurers of ignoring a previous recommendation to be more transparent about their links with other parties involved in accident claims, such as Claims Management Companies. 

The Committee made various recommendations such as requiring an accredited scheme for medical practitioners to file reports on accidents and asked the Government to consider reducing the period in which a claim can be brought for an accident down to one year, rather than the current three years. 

Did you know that insurers regularly referred details of accident victims onto their own solicitors panel and certainly before April 2013 when the law changed, referral fees were paid by the lawyers for these cases.  In addition insurers will often look to deal with a Claimant direct and offer a sum of money straight after an accident where the Claimant is not aware of the consequences of settling the claim at that stage before the medical prognosis will have become clear.

Let us hope the insurers take heed.......

CONSULTANT TREATMENT OUTCOMES

A recent initiative has been set up whereby patients can now check how their consultant is performing, as you can look at their results for a range of operations and treatments to help you make decisions about your care.

There are a number of specialities involved, although not all yet and it is hoped to roll out the scheme further.

You can use this data to decide which consultant to choose for your care.  

 
Unfortunately not all experts details are listed as some consultants have refused to let their results be published. 

All in all this has to be a good thing for patient choice.

DO YOU THINK THERE IS A COSY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND INSURERS?

This point was put to Work and Pensions Minister Lord Freud in the House of Lords who denied there is a “cosy relationship between Government and the insurance industry” recently telling members of the House of Lords that he talks regularly to victims’ groups and lawyers.

The denial came after the Lord Bishop of Ripon and Leeds asked the Minister what part “sufferers themselves, their relatives and support groups will play in managing what sometimes comes over as an agreement and arrangement between Government and insurance agencies”.  Lord Wills, a former Justice Minister, asked the Minister if he recognised “the deep sense of injustice felt by so many that the insurers are refusing to pay 100% of all claims to all those who are entitled to them?” in a debate about the Mesothelioma Bill in the House of Lords. 

Of course the Prime Minister himself posted a cosy meeting with just insurance representatives in February 2012, inviting representatives from the Royal Bank of Scotland, Admiral, AXA, Aviva and Zurich Financial Services but no claimant lawyers group were present! 

Perhaps you should be the judge......