IT was disappointing to see the Association of British Insurers (ABI) given an unopposed platform to put the blame for yet another increase in insurance premiums squarely at the feet of compensation claimants and the revised discount rate for accident victims (“Fresh call to halt Brexit”, The Herald, July 18). These assertions by the ABI are at best misleading, and yet surprisingly you seem not to have asked anyone else for their view on the matter.
For a start, the total number of claims is not increasing but decreasing. The ABI’s own statistics show that there has been a seven per cent decrease in claims made between 2011 and 2016. The overall cost of claims has dropped from £2.5 billion to £2bn over the same time period.
While claim costs and numbers have fallen, profits at all major UK insurance companies have continued to skyrocket. In fact, some of the largest firms in the country are breaking their own records – surely it’s worth asking insurers where the money from increased premiums is really going despite the tough conditions they complain about?
The review of the discount rate, which was branded “crazy”, is in fact long overdue. It had not been reviewed since 2001. So, for over a decade the discount rate has under-compensated people who needed that financial security. This money has stayed firmly in the pockets of insurers, yet they did not decry the rate as unfair or crazy when it saved their industry millions of pounds.
For what it’s worth the discount rate rarely comes into play in cases and is used to award future lost earnings or potential care costs. The rate was introduced across the whole of the UK, but one month later in Scotland than in England and Wales. However, it only came into force less than six months ago, so by what logic can it be having such an impact on premiums already?
Furthermore, the rate has nothing to do with whiplash claims, regardless of whether they are genuine claims or not. Whiplash remains the bogeyman in the personal injury world and the sustained attempts to vilify all victims by the insurance companies because of a small number of fraudulent claims is nothing short of disgraceful.
When insurers use this hackneyed excuse to hike up costs for millions of drivers, rather than allowing them free rein to bash accident victims and their lawyers, why not seek out the other side of the story in future? Ask a solicitor who works with injured people every day, or better yet, a person who has had their life irrevocably changed by an accident and needs compensation to get back on their feet and, in many cases, survive.
Scott Whyte,
Managing director, Watermans,
83 The Shore, Leith, Edinburgh.
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