Personal injury compensation claims for crashes on Britain’s roads have plummeted, analysis of the latest Government data reveals.
“The number of injuries on our roads has not gone down but there has been a huge drop in compensation claims,” said Mike Benner, chief executive of national not-for-profit campaign organisation the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL).
“What we have here is a cavernous justice gap growing between injuries and claims levels, which means many people who have suffered painful injuries and disruption to their lives are not receiving the compensation they need and deserve.
“The system for claiming compensation for whiplash injuries was overhauled in 2021 in a bid to make car insurance premiums cheaper,” Mike explained. “It hasn’t worked. And injured people have become the scapegoats, while we’re all actually paying more for our car insurance.”
Between 2020 - the year before the reforms - and 2023, the number of road injuries increased by 15 per cent, according to new data published by the Department for Transport. During the same period, the number of registered motor injury claims fell by 29 per cent*.
“Historically, the number of road injuries and the number of personal injury claims have followed each other very closely. That is no longer the case,” Mike said.
“As we have come out of the pandemic lockdowns, injuries have increased but claims haven’t - they have actually fallen significantly. This shows that fewer road injury victims are going on to claim.
“The insurance industry’s costs in relation to injury claims have taken a nosedive because claims have dropped. But most motorists will tell you that their car insurance premiums have rocketed.
“It’s a lose-lose situation for injured people.”