Lord Hunt of Wirral has called for those injured in vehicle accidents to be compensated for the treatment they received rather than pay-outs for injuries in order to stop the “whiplash” culture.
The solicitor, and former Cabinet minister said that the focus should be payment to fund recovery rather than compensate for injury.
In a proposal to the House of Lords, he looked to stop courts from providing compensation to those who claimed damages if the driver accused of negligence funded treatment for the victim in a plan that would cover a loss of function of 15% or less.
According to research 94% of all personal injury claims from a UK accidents for minor whiplash in comparison to France where whiplash amounted for 3% of personal injury claims.
During the Committee stage of the Bill Lord Hunt claimed that insurance policies could be cut by over £30 for all drivers under his proposed change. He said: "UK motorists do not really have the weakest necks in Europe.
"We have a whiplash culture because we have not taken the same stance as a society that other European countries have taken to avoid these claims in the first place.
"In other countries you have to prove a level or percentage of disability before you can even make a claim."
He added: "Particularly troubling is the increase in the number of induced accidents where fraudsters deliberately target innocent motorists to cause an accident."
Despite some agreeing with the proposal in the House of Lords there was some opposition with Lord Pannick opposing the amendments saying: "If the defendant's insurer pays for my treatment as the victim of a car accident, would these amendments prevent me from recovering compensation for pain and for suffering as a result of the accident?"
If you have been involved in an accident or suffered from an injury that was not your fault, you may be able to claim. Contact us using our online enquiry form.
