Well I never thought that this day would happen! The Motor Insurance Industry has actually had some negative media coverage, perhaps if I look out of my window a pig will be flying past too (suitably dressed in a jubilee flag of course to mark the weekends’ events).
This is the same motor insurance industry that has created ALL of the increase in whiplash claims. This is the same motor insurance industry that has added layer upon layer of expense to the claims process, then turned around and bare faced told the media it is the public’s fault for claiming and solicitors fault for helping them.
Until now the media has lapped up everything the insurance industry says, so thank goodness for the Office Of Fair Trading (OFT) standing up against them when seemingly no one else will.
Remember, this is an insurance industry which makes billions of pounds of profit every single year. An insurance industry that started charging solicitors when they referred their insured to them for their legal services following an accident, then started charging more and more each year when they realised solicitors were dependent upon them for new business.
This is the same insurance industry that decided they could make so much more money if they made more people claim for whiplash, so they kept calling their insured to make them claim even when they had not thought of doing so.
This is the same motor insurance industry who then realised they could make even more money from solicitors if they started cold calling and selling on the names and phone numbers of the drivers and passengers of motor vehicles which their insured collided with (remember these referral fees are paid out of the solicitors fees so it is only the solicitors losing out).
These are the same insurers who then realised they could make more money by hiring out cars and offering credit hire repairs (when they inflated their prices because another insurer was paying).
When I read that back, I realise that the insurance industry is very cannibalistic (if such a word exists). They are so busy feeding on the profits of the claims industry from each other, when they realise that they are ultimately paying out more too when other insurers start doing the same to them.
Perhaps this is when they came up with plan B, which is now being swiftly put into action by the Government who seem to be run by insurers judging by their policy making decisions.
So well done to the OFT for standing up to the motor insurance industry. Let’s hope the Competition Commission is as strong as they have been and does not bow to any pressure exerted upon them…
Author: Nicholas Jervis
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