The BBC Coverage Of The Government Plans To Curb Whiplash Claims

Whiplash Claim Compensation Specialist Nicholas Jervis

Nicholas Jervis, Solicitor (non-practising) and Managing Director of Whiplash Specialists Loyalty Law

After what I call 'Whiplash Day' on Thursday 15th January which I blogged about several times, I have had a chance to reflect on the high amount of media coverage that my industry attracted, and particularly on the BBC’s coverage of the day.

I heard the BBC cover the story, and there angle could easily be summarised as “Solicitors, Claims Companies and People Claiming Whiplash are solely to blame for the rise in claims and insurance premiums”. Every time I saw them cover the story that day, on BBC breakfast, Radio 4 today show, the BBC2 Jeremy Vine Show and BBC2 Simon Mayo show, they had a representative from the Association of British Insurers present. On only one occasion did they have the legal profession represented, and most shockingly of all during NONE of these interviews did they involve any member of the public who has suffered from a whiplash injury.

I had always thought that the BBC, funded by me and you paying our licence fee, had a duty to present news impartially. Well I now know that nothing could be further from the truth. I called and emailed the Jeremy Vine show and asked to represent the victim of whiplash injuries, but they had no interest in putting across a fair and informed view. Clearly they wanted to push the angle which they did all day that “it is solicitors, claims companies and people claiming whiplash” that have caused the large number of claims that has led to the increase in our insurance premiums.

The real reason for the increase in whiplash claims and in insurance premiums, as I have blogged about earlier this month in Jack Straw On Radio 4 and Nick Starling From The ABI On The BBC is that the number of people claiming has risen because insurers have been pushing their insured, even forcing them, to make claims for whiplash and drive up the number of people claiming. Why? Well for the reason that I am writing about today: namely to attract media support for a campaign to either ban whiplash claims, or to make it much harder for innocent victims to make a claim. The negative media alone will now make people think twice about making a claim.

During the interviews which all featured the Association Of British Insurers (ABI), the ABI were asked why the claims had risen, and at no time did the BBC challenge them when they pointed the finger at the victims, the small amount of fraudulent claimants, or the solicitors or claims companies. The BBC accepted the ABI’s statements that it was nothing to do with their insurance company clients; or as they described them; the poor, beleaguered, loss making insurance companies. I had to reach for my tissues several times when hearing the ABI tell the BBC how it was unfair on their members, how they were just trying to make an honest profit and if all these dreadful people stopped claiming compensation they might make a tiny bit of profit again and their employee’s children might once more be able to eat. Oh pass me the sick bucket please! The BBC just lapped it up and at no point challenged the ABI on the truth of the rise in insurance claims, caused almost entirely by every insurance company pushing people to make a whiplash claim whether or not they were injured, just so that they could force the Government to make the changes that are now passing through Parliament. These changes that are now going through will stop innocent whiplash victims from keeping 100% of their compensation (a victory for the insurers) as they will now have to pay for legal assistance to make a claim. The insurers will save millions of pounds in compensation claims now, so the short term “hit” they have taken over the last few years while they pestered people to claim for whiplash when otherwise they would not have done so will pay them back handsomely in hugely increased profits (and don’t be foolish enough to think that insurance premiums will drop as a result, there is more chance of the BBC letting a whiplash victim talk on one of their programmes – and as you now know that never happens).

So ultimately who is going to suffer? The innocent victim! Great work by the insurers and the ABI for persuading the BBC and Government to take their message hook, line and sinker! Sorry for all of you who will suffer what can be a very debilitating whiplash injury in the future and not receive all of the compensation that you deserve.

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Jack Straw On Radio4 Today Talking About Whiplash Claims

Accident Claim Solicitor Matching Service

Nicholas Jervis, Solicitor (non-practising) and Managing Director of Whiplash Specialists Loyalty Law

The former Justice Secretary Jack Straw was on BBC Radio 4 this morning talking about the Government's charge to curb 'Whiplash Claims'. Not surprisingly as with the Government old or new, he focused on the problem being the legal fees in the whole process as opposed to the fact that the majority of whiplash claims are made because insurers put a lot of pressure on their insured to tell them to make a claim. This supports the longer aim to drive down legal fees (see my earlier blog about Government Plans To Curb Whiplash Claims).

He called the whiplash injury an 'entirely artificial injury' which is a disgraceful and dreadfully ill informed comment. Whiplash is a proven problem and can be incredibly debilitating. I have suffered a whiplash injury and know that it completely wiped me out for a week and left me with ongoing neck pain for some time afterwards. This was not in my head or a figment of my imagination. This was not an 'entirely artificial injury' as Jack Straw says. My wife suffered an injury in the same accident and she was more severely injured than I was and had months of suffering. Did she make that up too? A shocking statement Mr Straw!

Not surprisingly Nick Starling from the ABI was there again as the media seem to love to give him air time but seemingly refuse to allow anyone on any of their programmes who actually wants to stick up for the only person any of us should be talking about - the innocent victim who has done nothing wrong!

They went on to talk about the banning of referral fees which is planned but this will simply not solve the problem. This is exactly what the insurers want to happen and exactly why they have made as many people claim as possible over the last few years and also why they have pushed up their level of referral fees, often to as much as £1,000 per referred whiplash claim. This has then allowed them to argue that their is a 'compensation culture' because they have driven more people to make more claims. They have artificially inflated the market. Stop them doing this and you will see whiplash claims naturally drop to the same level they used to be before insurers pushed more people to claim!

What must be remembered here is that solicitors are paid a fixed fee for their work in helping a client to make a whiplash claim. The solicitor decides to make a payment from their fees to acquire new clients. This is called a referral fee but could be any form of a marketing fee. Every business spends money on marketing to attract new clients. The BBC spends money advertising all of its programmes. Insurers spend millions on comparison website advertisements and on their own advertisements. If the Government intends to stop every business of every type from promoting its' services then all well and good. But to decide that solicitors are the only business of any type in the whole country who cannot promote their services (whether by paying referral fees or advertising it does not matter) this smacks of discrimination.

It must also be remembered that insurers pushed heavily for fixed fees for solicitors for whiplash claims and achieved them. They then pushed more people to make more claims for whiplash and have achieved that. They are now pushing for the Government to push to ban referral fees AND to reduce the amount of fixed fees payable (in other words stop the solicitors from advertising this type of work and if they manage to find any clients with no advertising/referral fees to stop them from being paid a reasonable amount to do the work). They will no doubt achieve that too because the Government seem to be the insurers' whipping boys.

The point is, when the Government does what the insurers next want it to do and takes this action, it would be completely naiive to think that insurers will suddenly reduce their premiums which whiplash claims have allegedly increased. That will simply not happen. Instead they will advertise more and make more profits.

And in all of this, what about the most important person? What about the person who one day is driving along minding their own business and the next minute is driven into by another vehicle. That person then suffers a serious whiplash injury that stops them from working and stops them from caring for their young family. That person cannot find any solicitor to help her and in any event is too scared to do anything about it because she does not want to be seen to be 'one of those people who makes a claim'. So she does nothing. Her injury deteriorates (as whiplash can) and she is left with permanent pain and suffering. She cannot sleep every night due to the pain. She pays privately for treatment that she should have had immediately after the accident but it is too late now. She will be in agony for good!

Great work insurance companies. Great work media. Great work the Government for failing to look after your innocent citizens!

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Nick Starling From The ABI On The BBC

I am watching Nick Starling from the ABI on the BBC at the moment.

I find it staggering, and almost hilarious, that he can sit on the sofa and tell the BBC that the main problem has been solicitors paying huge referral fees that puts up the cost of whiplash claims when it is THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY solely who have constantly pushed up these referral fees as high as possible to make more short term profits, and to suit the longer game they have been playing which I talked about in my earlier post this morning The Problem With The Government's Plans To Curb Whiplash Claims. How he manages to do that with a straight face I have no idea, but I suppose that in itself is an achievement.

Insurers sell a legal expenses insurance policy for £30-50! They do this explaining that it will help their insured and cover their legal costs if they make a claim. Ultimately, the only reason they do this is to ensure that their insured calls them as soon as they are involved in a non fault accident. Remember that if you were at fault for a car accident your standard insurance policy would provide you with legal cover. Yet if you are not at fault a solicitor will act for you free of charge in any event. So the only reason they sell these policies is so that their insured calls them as soon as they are in an accident and injured. The insurer then DEMANDS that their insured uses the solicitor who they have chosen for them (the one who will pay them the highest 'Referral fee' for their insured's contact details - often up to £1,000). So you can see that it is insurers who have driven up the volume and the costs of people making claims for whiplash.

The Solution!

  1. Ban insurers from selling their insured's contact details.
  2. Enforce the ban on Claims Companies sending spam texts and emails and stopping people in the street.
  3. Allow innocent victims to decide whether to make a claim, and if so who should help them!

All problems solved!

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The Problem With The Government’s Plans To Curb Whiplash Claims!

Accident Claim Solicitor Matching Service

Nicholas Jervis, Solicitor (non-practising) and Managing Director of Whiplash Specialists Loyalty Law

There will be much talk today about the Government's plans to make it much harder for people to make a claim for whiplash and this frustrates me no end. This is because the only people who will be made to suffer as a result of these changes are genuine, innocent accident victims who through no fault of their own have suffered a whiplash injury. That is not right and not fair and the Government needs to ensure that they protect these victims. Our whole legal system is built on the foundation that someone who suffers an injury through no fault of their own should be put back in the position they were in before the accident. This is achieved through treatment and compensation. If people feel that their integrity will be called into question if they make a claim for whiplash, many will simply not make a claim. If they have a serious whiplash injury, as many people do, they may miss the vital treatment that could prevent them from suffering permanent pain!

What you need to understand is that the sole reason that whiplash claims have risen in volume over the last few years is due to the insurers encouraging, and in fact putting pressure, on their insured to make a claim for compensation. They have played a long and clever game to increase the number of people claiming so that ultimately they can force the Government to drive down the amount of compensation and costs that they have to pay for each successful claim. It looks like they have won their long game!

Insurers control around 70% of all whiplash claims made because they are the first people to be notified as soon as their insured are involved in an accident. In fact they tell you in their policy that YOU MUST notify them as soon as you are involved in an accident. They sell you a Legal Expenses Insurance Policy for around £30-50 which again tells you that you must call them as soon as you have an accident. I know from first hand experience of a recent accident that my wife was involved in that they then encourage their insured and anyone else involved in an accident to make a claim. My wife was sitting in her car in a car park when another vehicle drove into her. The other driver's insurance company asked her on 4 separate occasions whether she was injured and wanted to make a claim, whether anyone else was in the car and if they were injured, and if anyone was in the car with their insured who might have been injured! Insurers are solely responsible for driving up the volume of people making a claim.

The clear and easy solution for this problem is not to punish the innocent victim. The solution is to ban insurance companies from profiting from the immoral practice of allowing them to sell on their client's details, and also then putting pressure on their insured to use the solicitor who they choose to help them (the one who pays the highest fee but does not necessarily provide the best service). People who have paid for the legal expenses insurance believe that they have bought a policy of value but nothing is further from the truth. This is because the insurer only sells the policy to ensure that their insured returns to them when they are involved in an accident, so that they can then sell on the insured's details to the highest paying solicitor!

If the Ministry of Justice then do their job and enforce the ban on claims companies who send spam texts and emails ('you could be entitled to £3,750) and the number of claims will fall dramatically. More importantly, the innocent victim will be free to choose whether or not to make a claim and who they would like to help them!

The biggest problem with this is that whiplash can be a serious and debilitating injury and the constant negative publicity surrounding whiplash claims will prevent some people who have been injured through no fault of their own from making a claim and receiving the treatment they need to get their life back to normal (or as normal as it can be if they suffer a serious and permanent whiplash injury which many people do).

I speak from first hand experience as I have suffered a whiplash injury, I have been a solicitor dealing with whiplash claims and now I run a services that matches innocent accident victims with specialist solicitors.

PLEASE WILL SOMEONE LOOK OUT FOR THE POSITION OF THE INNOCENT VICTIM WHO SUFFERS WHIPLASH. THESE ARE THE ONLY PEOPLE WE SHOULD BE TALKING ABOUT. NOT SOLICITORS, NOT THE ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH INSURERS AND NOT SOLICITORS. IT IS SOLELY ABOUT THE INNOCENT VICTIM!

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Can I Sue My Builder?

Can I sue my builder if I am unhappy with the work carried out?

When you instruct a builder to carry out improvements or additions to your property you enter into a binding contract with them which sets out certain terms and conditions with which you should both comply. The terms and conditions relate to such things as what work is to be carried out, what type of materials will be used and where they will be sourced from, when the work will be completed by, the terms of payment (i.e. the amount and when payment should be made), and any other important details relating to the specific project. If your builder breaches a term, or terms, of the contract you may be entitled to sue them.

Reasons to sue your builder

There are many scenarios which may result in you wishing to sue your builder. These include work not being carried out either at all or not within the time limit specified in the contract, work being carried out inadequately leading to damage to other parts of your property, damage being caused to your furniture or structural damage, incorrect materials being used in the building work, and work being carried out to a lesser standard than expected or agreed.

Establishing negligence against your builder

In order to pursue a successful claim against your builder you must be able to show that they have been negligent. You should be able to point to a particular term, or terms, in your contract and show how they have been breached by your builder.

Claiming compensation from your builder

The prospect of taking your builder to court should be considered a last resort, after exploring all other options and using your best endeavours to try and sort the matter out between you. Make sure that you have a face to face discussion with your builder and ensure that you both fully understand where the problem lies. If your attempts to resolve the situation fail you may wish to take legal action against your builder to obtain damages.

Finding out if you have a claim

If you think you may have reason to sue your builder, contact our expert Loyalty Law solicitors who are here to answer you r questions and advise you on your chances of pursuing a successful claim. Call us today on 0800 142 2775 to find out whether you may have a claim.

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Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 Hours Principle

Accident Claim Solicitor Matching Service

Nicholas Jervis, Solicitor (non-practising) and Managing Director of Whiplash Specialists Loyalty Law

I am a big fan of the author Malcolm Gladwell. He is perhaps best known for his book 'The Tipping Point' which has been quoted by former American President Bill Clinton and many others. It was a very well received book. I preferred his other book, 'Blink', but I also enjoyed his more recent one called 'Outliers'.

The overriding principle in 'Outliers' is that most people can become experts or specialists when they have done something for 10,000 hours or more. He has researched this extensively and found that it has applied to sportsmen (reaching their peak), businessmen and politicians. I am sure there is very good merit in the story, so I started to think about my 14 years of helping clients as a solicitor. I worked out that I actually clocked up the sum of 22,540 hours (approximately) serving clients as a practising lawyer. I was staggered when I realised that was the number of hours that I had spent dealing almost exclusively throughout that time with accident and personal injury claims.

This is how I broke them down:

  • 52 weeks in a year
  • 4 weeks holiday
  • Less 2 weeks courses/out of office acivities =46 weeks a year
  • 7 hours a day average (often I worked 12 hour days)
  • 5 days a week = 1610 hours each year
  • Finally multiply by 14 years = 22,540 hours.

When you add to this the last few years I have spent connecting innocent accident victims with specialist personal injury solicitors through Loyalty Law, you can see that it is actually a lot more than that. Now I would like to believe that in spending so much time helping people to recover their lives and compensation after accidents that I know quite a lot about the process.

I use all of that information to help people who are injured through Loyalty Law. Can I use my experience to help you too?

To speak with one of our solicitors now, completely free of charge and without obligation, please call us free on 0800 142 2775

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Which Of The 10,925 Law Firms Would You Choose For Your Claim?

Accident Claim Solicitor Matching Service

Nicholas Jervis, Solicitor (non-practising) and Managing Director of Whiplash Specialists Loyalty Law

Recent figures from the Law Society of England And Wales reveal that as at November 2011 there are 10,925 law firms operating in England And Wales. Loyalty Law also operates in Scotland so you can safely take the number of law firms to well above 12,000 serving England, Wales and Scotland. So the question is, if you are unlucky enough to be involved in an accident, how on earth do you know which of those 12,000 or more solicitors you should choose to help you to make a claim?

I think you will agree it is difficult to know how to answer that question, and it is one of the main reasons that I set up Loyalty Law, to find the best accident and medical negligence claims solicitors to help you when you need them. I have spoken to every one of the solicitors that help our clients, and we chose them because they are specialists in accident and medical negligence claims. We made sure that they will provide a great service, and that they will make the whole process as simple and as stress free as possible for you.

When you add to this the fact that in all accident claim cases they will make sure you keep 100% of your compensation, and in medical negligence claims all initial enquiries are completely free of charge (and a No Win No Fee Medical Negligence Claims may well be available for you), I hope I have made it as easy as possible for you to ask us to help you!

To speak with one of our solicitors now, completely free of charge and without obligation, please call us free on 0800 142 2775

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Posted in Children Medical Negligence, Find A Solicitor, Medical Negligence Claims, Whiplash Claims | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Government To Cut Legal Aid For Children Medical Negligence Claims

Medical Negligence Solicitor Matching Service

Nicholas Jervis, Solicitor (non-practising) and Managing Director of Whiplash Specialists Loyalty Law

I caught a glimpse of Sky News this morning and was delighted to see them covering in their newspaper review the dreadful plans by the Government to abolish legal aid for medical negligence for children. They were discussing Lord Tebbit's objections to the plans which appear in today's Guardian Newspaper. It is nice to see some important legal news being covered from the right angle; namely the position of the innocent victim (in this case the child) in these situations.

At the moment if a child is harmed by the medical negligence of a doctor, nurse or other medical treatment provider, he or she is automatically entitled to legal aid to investigate whether a claim for compensaton can be made. If there are merits to the case, and it is worth investigating, legal aid is available to cover the legal costs involved. In all cases, if the claim is ultimately successful the solicitors fees will be paid by the National Health Service Litigation Authority (NHSLA), the body set up to deal with medical negligence claims, so it does not cost the Legal Aid Board in those cases.

As an aside, the Government could actually save the £250 million they want to save by aboloshing Legal Aid by making the NHSLA more efficient. They often fight claims made against them which clearly on their facts should be settled immediately, thereby running up millions in unnecessary legal costs when it would be more efficient to settle the claim immediately. But apparently it is much easier to make the children suffer rather than a public purse funded body. That simply does not seem right to me, it did not seem right to Sam Delaney, the journalist covering the story on Sky News today, and it does not seem right to Lord Tebbit.

If our medical services are not performing properly and injuring innocent children or adults, in my opinion that needs bringing to the attention of all concerned to make sure it does not happen again. We have started a petition to stop these changes and other changes the Government plans to make to stop people keeping 100% of their compensation when injured through no fault of their own. If you agree with us, please sign the petition here:

» Click to view and sign the petition.

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Lord Justice Jackson Attacks The Law Society – Hypocritically?

Whiplash Claim Compensation Specialist Nicholas Jervis

Nicholas Jervis, Solicitor (non-practising) and Managing Director of Whiplash Specialists Loyalty Law

Speaking at Cambridge University Law Faculty on Monday evening, Jackson stated that the campaign by the Law Society against his proposals was not in the public interest. This from a man who has created the "Jackson Proposals" which, if they come into effect, will take away compensation from innocent victims who are injured through the negligence of others. Now does that sound to be in the public interest?

Lord Justice Jackson is clearly intent on making a name for himself and getting his name in the statute books, whether it causes misery to thousands of victims or not. The only beneficiaries from his proposed changes to the legislation surrounding accident claims will be the insurance companies via an increase in their profits and the Government as they reduce the amount they have to pay out for medical negligence claims.

In my view, as sadly is so often the case in this country, his changes tackle the symptoms but not the cause. The cause for more people pursuing compensation claims is insurance companies pushing their insured to claim so that they can benefit from significant referral fees. Solve this cause by banning insurance companies from profiting from their insured's injuries and hey presto, problem solved!

The cause for the Government having to spend millions on compensating the victims of medical negligence is inefficient systems and processes in our NHS establishments. Spend the money correcting these poor processes and systems (read the excellent Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande for more on this) and less people will be injured by negligence.

If only someone could see sense and realise that these changes alone would save the country billions of pounds whilst at the same time leaving the poor innocent injured victims alone and allowing them to keep the compensation they deserve to rebuild their lives after an accident, then this could all be so much easier.

However, I fear whilst Lord Justice Jackson is pursuing his own interests in rushing through his legislation (the same criticism he labels the Law Society with), this is not going to happen!

Please wake up Mr Cameron, before the damage is done.

Nicholas Jervis

Solicitor (non-practising) and Managing Director of Loyalty Law.

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Why Motor Premiums Are So High And What To Do About It – The Alternative View Point

Whiplash Claim Compensation Specialist Nicholas Jervis

Nicholas Jervis, Solicitor (non-practising) and Managing Director of Whiplash Specialists Loyalty Law

Having spent 21 years helping people to rebuild their lives after accidents and having to fight insurers from using every tactic in the book to prevent genuine and valid claims, you would think I should no longer be surprised by insurers making what I consider to be ridiculous statements, and what is worse the British media (no doubt because the insurers spend so much on advertising) simply lapping up every word they say. Well, paid media lapping this propoganda up is one thing, but when the BBC supports the comments made by insurers I really struggle to understand why. I am going to send this article to the BBC and I will fully expect it to be published as a reasoned response to the biased AXA article they have published today under the headline "Why Motor Insurers Premiums Are So High And What To Do About It". You can see the article here but don't forget to come back and read what this is really all about (not the insurers' only version): BBC Article.

In summary the article blames two bodies of people for the rising cost of insurance premiums; namely you (the injured victim) and me, the legal profession. Not surprisingly insurers, who make billions in profits every single year, do not come in for any criticism (interesting eh?).

The main criticism raised by Paul Evans of AXA is that there are more whiplash claims made now despite the overall number of accidents declining. Now you might think that this is due largely to all of the advertisements you see on television, but you would be hugely mistaken. The real reason is that insurance companies have been encouraging people to make whiplash claims for years, when they would perhaps otherwise choose not to do so. They do this because many of the insurance companies (indeed most of them) now receive up to £1,000 for each of their insured that they refer to their chosen solicitors. Therefore, insurers put a huge amount of pressure and encouragement on their insured who are injured to go ahead and make the claim so that they can receive their bung (known as a referral fee) from their friendly solicitor (generally chosen because they will pay the highest referral fee - not on the basis that they will provide the best service). As pointed out by Paul Evans from AXA insurance the solicitor receives a standard flat fee payment for their legal costs of around £1,400, leaving them with only £400 for their work once you deduct the £1,000 referral fee. So why do the solicitors do this? Well larger solicitors have become addicted to the volume of work that insurers can send to them (often hundreds or thousands of new clients every single month). Whilst in the beginning they would pay only around £200 for each client referred to them, the insurers soon realised that by sending a large volume of injured clients to only one or two firms of solicitors, they could increase the referral fees they generated from the solicitors, up to the ridiculous fees now achieved of £1,000. However, the insurers also have become addicted and perhaps dependent on all of these referral fees and as they have done so they have become much more aggressive in persuading their insured to make claims, and when they do so, insisting that they go to their 'pet solicitor' to make sure that they receive their referral fees. How do I know this to be true?

My wife was recently in her car in a car park when someone reversed into her. The other driver's insurance company (Aviva) were quickly on to my wife confirming that they would cover the cost of her repairs (no complaints on their efficiency in that regard). However, every time my wife spoke with Aviva they asked if she was injured, was anyone else in the car with her and were they injured, how many people were in the other car and were any of them injured. They were pushing to find any injured victims that they could sell on to their solicitors. They asked her on four separate occasions. The other insurers act in the same way and until very recently AXA insurance also took large referral fees. They have come out and said they are no longer taking them, perhaps not surprising when in only two months time due to changes in who can provide legal services AXA insurance will be able to deal with all of their legal claims in-house (if they choose to do so), so rather than simply take an £800 referral fee they can keep all of the £1,400 in legal fees. As I said, I am cynical about insurance companies with 21 years of good reason to be so, as I know all that they do revolves around profit. The two months of lost referral fees must easily have been replaced by the masses of free publicity AXA insurance has received from the media, now including the BBC. That publicity would have cost them millions of pounds, so I have to give credit to the fellow marketing professional who came up with this clever idea for free publicity. It was a gamble but it seems to have paid off very well.

The Solution

So the solution, rather than banning referral fees, is actually incredibly simple, as now that they exist you will never be able to sweep them under the carpet. The solution is much easier than that and involves two very simple steps that could be implemented and enforced easily.

Step 1 - Ban Insurers From Profiteering From Their Insureds' Injuries

I think the fact that insurers profit from their insured being injured is morally wrong which is reason alone to ban it. But when you add to this the pressure they put on people to make claims (when otherwise they would not do so) it makes it clear that taking them out of the equation is vital. So ban them immediately and instantly you stop them driving up the number of people claiming whiplash compensation. Only people who are genuinely injured will go to the trouble of finding the right solicitors to help them, the others that are 'egged on to claim' will simply not bother. So that is Step 1.

Step 2 - Enforce The Cold Calling, Spam Emailing And Spam Texting Laws

The other reason why people are encouraged to claim is because many of the larger claims companies regularly send text messages and emails telling people that they are entitled to £3,750 in compensation from their recent accident. (It always seems to be this amount and I received such a text message just last week even though I have not had a car accident for around 17 years). I receive several emails like this a week also from very well known major accident claim companies fronted by celebrities even though I have never opted in to receive such emails (I can tell this because they use generic email addresses that are only publicised on our websites and never used by me). However, there are already laws in place to stop these emails and text messages from being sent. The Ministry Of Justice just has to take action to close these companies down but they do not seem to be doing this. If they start to enforce the laws which already exist to stop this activity, coupled with the step proposed above, the number of claims would drop and only people that wanted to claim because they were genuinely injured would do so.

Problem Solved

So these two simple steps will solve the problem, but at the same time protect the innocent victims who do need good access to justice. However, even when these laws are enforced (as they should be) don't expect insurers to bring the cost of premiums down, that is very unlikely to happen.

So BBC, I trust you will now publish this article as you have done Paul Evans from AXA Insurance's article on the basis of providing balanced media which is part of your requirement as I, and everyone reading this, fund your business model.

Nicholas Jervis

Solicitor (non-practising) and Managing Director of Loyalty Law.

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