Personal injury claims for road traffic accident claims have plummeted in relation to whiplash injuries, creating ‘a cavernous justice gap’, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (Apil) has warned
Apil claim the number of road injuries rose by 15% between 2020 and 2023, while at the same time the number of registered motor injury claims fell by 29%, according to its analysis of figures supplied by the Compensation Recovery Unit and the Department of Transport ‘Reported road casualties Great Britain, annual report 2023’.
Apil chief executive Mike Benner said last week the number of claims usually rises and falls in line with the number of injuries, but ‘that is no longer the case. The system for claiming compensation for whiplash injuries was overhauled in 2021 in a bid to make car insurance premiums cheaper. It hasn’t worked.’
In 2021, the Official Injury Claim portal was introduced, using a tariff system for whiplash injuries.