Whiplash truth & lies

Nearly 40% of whiplash sufferers do not claim compensation, according to a report by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL).

Of 4,000 people surveyed by APIL, one per cent (51 people) had suffered a whiplash injury in the past year, and 522 people had suffered whiplash at some point in their life.

Of those 522 people, only 321 (more than 60%) had made a claim for their injury.

According to APIL, whiplash claims have fallen by 24,000 in the last year. It says one in five sufferers have symptoms for more than one year, 30% of claims are encouraged by insurers, and 90% of sufferers are diagnosed by a medical professional.

APIL is calling for “free and prompt exchange of information” between the RTA claims portal and the Insurance Fraud Bureau to help identify fraudulent activity at the earliest opportunity, and for whiplash claimants or their solicitors to sign a “statement of truth” and be prosecuted for fraud if they breach it.

It also wants insurers banned from making offers of compensation before a medical report has been seen, and “robust enforcement” of the imminent ban on the sale of claimants’ personal details by the defendant’s insurers.

Launching the paper, The Whiplash Report 2012, at the House of Commons last week, APIL president Karl Tonks told MPs: “The people who suffer these injuries are genuine.”