APIL analysis of the latest Official Injury Claim (OIC) data reveals a clear ‘justice gap’ in which victims of negligence are not receiving redress.

“There is no denying the collapse in the number of road injury victims seeking justice since the OIC was introduced in 2021,” said APIL’s president Jonathan Scarsbrook.

“Road injury claims have fallen significantly, despite a very steep rise in road casualties”.

APIL has tracked and analysed data gathered from Department for Transport figures, claims data from the OIC, and Freedom of Information requests to the Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU).

In the latest quarter (Q2 2023) motor injury claims were 45 per cent below pre-pandemic levels, yet traffic volumes, a key indicator for the level of road casualties, were three per cent above pre-pandemic levels, APIL reports.

“Before the OIC was introduced, the number of claims reflected the number of injuries. The divergence between claims and injuries we see now shows a very clear justice gap,” said Jonathan.

“The cost of paying compensation to people with whiplash injuries was used by the Government and the insurance industry to justify reform, with the promise that premium prices would come down. Since the OIC was introduced, the total cost of injury claims settled by motor insurers has fallen by more than a fifth yet the price of motor insurance has soared by 41 per cent*,” he explained.

“People with genuine whiplash injuries have had their compensation slashed to arbitrary amounts, if they are even able to claim at all, and they are still paying high prices for their car insurance. They are being stung twice.

“We hope that insurers will be held to account when the Treasury reports on the benefits of the reforms to consumers. But by then thousands more people with real injuries caused by the negligence of other drivers will have fallen through the justice gap these reforms have created”.

-ends-

Notes to editors:

*APIL analysis of data from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and Office of National Statistics (ONS).

• The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers is a not-for-profit organisation, formed by claimant lawyers, which has campaigned for the rights of victims of negligence for more than 30 years. APIL’s vision is of a society without needless injury but, when people are injured, a society which offers the justice they need to rebuild their lives. Members include solicitors, barristers, legal executives and academics.
• Direct any queries about this press release to APIL’s communications manager Jane Hartwell on t: 07541 490 988 e: [email protected].
• Follow @APIL on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APIL and on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/association-of-personal-injury-lawyers